Second Time Around
by The Wolf Of Cair Paravel
Summary: When Narnia needs the help of five young teenagers again, they answer the call. But this time around things are more difficult than they could ever have imagined. Follow them on their journey to help a runaway prince regain the throne that is rightfully his. Edmund/OC
1. Chapter 1: Prince Caspian Flees

**Author's Note: This is the long awaited sequel to my first story, The Reason Why. :) I've got up to chapter five typed up already... In fact, I was in a typing mood, so I got them all done in three days... There will be a lot more romance in this story than the first one, and a lot more drama, tragedy (yes, I couldn't help it... There will be some VERY sad moments), and adventure. I'm scared it won't get as many reviews as my first one, but hopefully it does! **

**I try to reply to each and every review, and I LOVE getting responses back. Feel free to message me with any questions you have about it. Oh, and one more thing before we get onto the story..Well, two things really. One: Flames will be chewed up and spit out. Take my example in my last story of what happens when you piss me off... Not a good thing. Two: Any clothes, hairstyles, or anything else like that will most likely have a picture on my profile... The links are there, and they are probably up on my blog as well. :) And with that, I give you my sequel. :D**

**Song for this chapter: Tonight by The Afters

* * *

**

A woman's loud, pain-laced scream filled one of the towers in the large castle. Maids raced frantically around the room, preparing everything.

"Towels." The midwife said to nobody in particular. A random maid handed her what she asked for. Lady Prunaprismia screamed a glutteral scream once again. A few minutes later she was holding her newborn baby close to her, the pain-filled look from before gone and forgotten.

Not too far away in the castle Lord Miraz stood on a balcony looking out over the kingdom. The stars shone brightly overhead.

"Lord Miraz?" General Glozelle said as he entered the dark room. Miraz didn't turn. "You have a son."

Miraz sighed and inclined his head to look up at the stars. "The Heavens have blessed us.." He paused and turned slightly so his right eye was facing the general. "You know your orders, General Glozelle."

"Yes, my lord." He said, tilting his head before he left the room.

On the other side of the castle a cloaked figure made their way through the corridors. A Telmarine soldier paced the hallways. When the soldier turned a corner, the cloaked figure raced forward and quietly slipped through a door. He walked over to the bed and pulled back the drapes around it. He clapped a hand over the sleeping Prince's mouth. Caspian awoke with a start, his eyes snapping open. He looked up to see that the person standing over him was his tutor, Doctor Cornelius. Caspian relaxed.

"Five more minutes." The young prince said as he pushed Cornelius' hand away.

"I'm afraid we won't be watching the stars tonight, my prince." The older man said. Caspian sat up and looked at him in confusion. "Come. We must hurry." Cornelius grabbed Caspian's forearm and pulled him out of bed and over to a wardrobe in a corner on the other side of the room. Caspian froze.

"Professor, what is going on?" He asked, his eyes flickering warily around the room.

"Your aunt has given birth." Cornelius said. "To a son."

Caspian's eyes widened. Doctor Cornelius stepped into the wardrobe and Caspian followed. He left the door open just enough to peek through. He looked out back into his room. The door opened and at least five Telmarine soldiers and General Glozelle filed in, each of them carrying a crossbow. They surrounded Caspian's now empty bed and on the General's signal, began firing arrows through the drapes.

Caspian turned and followed Cornelius into the secret passageway. They raced down a winding stairway, and into the armory. Caspian pulled on a leather plate shirt for protection, and grabbed a sword from the wall. He then saddled his horse, Destier. He swung into the saddle.

"You must make for the woods." Professor Cornelius said.

"The woods?" Caspian said warily. He had heard stories about what kind of creatures lived in the woods.

"They won't follow you there." Cornelius said as he handed Caspian a small object wrapped in a piece of cloth. "It has taken me many years to find this. Do not use it except in your greatest need."

"Will I ever see you again?" Caspian asked.

"I hope so, my prince. There is so much that I haven't had time to tell you." He paused. "Everything you know is about to change."

A sound came from down the hall, and Destrier began to get nervous.

"Now go!" Professor Cornelius said to Caspian, who then proceeded to kick his horse into a quick canter. Cornelius watched on as Caspian drove his horse faster and broke into a gallop through the stone castle's courtyard. He knocked over a Telmarine soldier as he rode through the gates. He crossed the bridge just before it began to lift. Looking back, he saw fireworks shooting up into the sky.

"A son! A son!" A Telmarine Crier called out. "Lady Prunaprismia has given Lord Miraz a son!"

Caspian turned and urged Destrier on into the blackness of the night. He rode his steed across the open plains and sloping hills. Through the darkness he could see craggy mountains in the distance. He rode on until he reached the edge of the forest. Without hesitating, he rode straight into the dark wood.

Telmarine soldiers on horses pursued Caspian, riding as fast as they could to catch up with him so they could carry out their job. As they reached the woods, most of the soldiers slowed. General Glozelle entered the forest and turned to the soldiers who hesitated. They looked up at the dark trees in fear.

"Which of you superstitious old women would like to spend the night in a cell?" He yelled at them, turning to ride into the woods. The others followed him.

Caspian rode on and expertly crossed a rushing river on Destrier. He then raced into the cover of the woods.

When the Telmarine soldiers came to the river, one of them was washed away in the strong current. Even then they did not stop. They continued after Caspian.

Once he was safely in the woods, Caspian turned back to see if the soldiers were still following him. When he didn't see them, he turned back. _Wham! _Before he even had time to blink he was knocked from his horse by a low branch. He was being dragged by his horse. After a struggled, he managed to free his foot from the stirrup. He sighed and watched as Destrier rode into the distance as if he didn't even notice that his rider was now missing.

Caspian laid there in the cool grass for a few minutes. He then sighed and sat up, taking a glance around the woods. Then, from his left, a door opened and light spilled out into the small clearing. Two dwarfs stepped out of the door and their eyes snapped to Caspian, whose eyes widened in response.

"He's seen us!" The dwarf with black hair shouted. The dwarf with red hair drew a small sword that would be like a knife to a human. He ran towards Caspian. Then, he froze as his eyes landed on the package that Cornelius had given Caspian before he fled the castle. The fabric around it had come unwrapped and it revealed a small ivory horn. The dwarf's eyes flickered between Caspian, and the horn, and then into the distance. Caspian looked back and saw the Telmarine soldiers approaching.

"Take care of him!" The red dwarf called back to the other dwarf before he raced, sword drawn, toward the approaching soldiers. The black dwarf began running at the young Prince. Caspian lunged for the horn.

"No!" Cried the dwarf. Caspian lifted the ivory piece to his lips and blew as hard as he could. That was the last thing that he remembered before something hard hit him on the head and his world went black.

Things were not at all well in Narnia.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, there you have it. The first chapter of my second Narnia story. :) I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D Leave a smiley face if you enjoyed it!**


	2. Chapter 2: Returning Home

**Author's Note: Here's chapter two. :) It was fun to write, so I hope you all enjoy it. :) It's a little bit longer than I normally do, so...yeah. XD I thought I'd update since a got like...eight reviews in one day. Thanks you guys! :D  
**

**Song for this chapter: Never Going Back To OK by the Afters

* * *

**

Ariana groaned as a high pitched squeal snapped her from her deep sleep. She rolled over and pulled her pillow over her head to block out the sudden light that filled the room. She abruptly sat up as the blankets were yanked off of her and she felt the chill from the early January air.

"What was that for?" She shouted as she put a hand to her eyes to block out the harsh brightness.

"Get off your lazy bum and get ready for school." Lucy laughed as she threw a pillow at her friend.

"Wait... School!" Ari shouted, all sign of tiredness now long gone. Today they would be going back to school after a week of spring break. They wouldn't be coming back to Finchley until term ended. Then they would have summer break.

"Yeah. The rest of us have been up for nearly an hour." Lucy said as she rolled her eyes. "Mum sent me up to make sure you were awake." Lucy turned and headed towards the door. She paused and turned her head. "I think she's beginning to worry about you sleeping so long these past few days." Then she left.

Ari sighed and began to get dressed. She pulled on her red, plaid skirt and white, button up shirt. Then she pulled on a dark navy blazer that finished off the uniform. She hopped around the room as she pulled on her white stockings. After she had laced up her black shoes, she grabbed her satchel and suitcase and walked downstairs.

"Took you long enough." Lucy snorted in a very unladylike way when Ari finally made her way to the kitchen. "Ed and Peter have been gone for almost a half hour now. Susan just left." Lucy explained her siblings' absence. Ari nodded. She quickly grabbed a piece of toast.

"Come on, Lu. We need to go so we won't be late." Ari said. She and Lucy picked up their suitcases and said goodbye to Mrs. Pevesnsie and Mr. Pevensie. Then they walked out of the door to head to the subway station.

It wasn't a long walk. Ten minutes at the most. They looked across the street to the newspaper stand where Susan was reading a magazine. Lucy started to walk across the street but froze as a car horn blared loudly.

"Watch where you're going, love!" The man that was driving the small black car shouted at her. Lucy grinned sheepishly.

"I'm sorry!" She said as she and Ari quickly crossed the street, this time watching for cars.

"Lucy, you go catch up with Peter and Edmund. I'll go get Susan." Ari said to the younger girl. Lucy nodded and dashed off in the direction of the subway.

Susan looked lazily up from her magazine as a boy who was about her age stepped up to the stand.

"You go to St. Finbar's." The boy said. It was a statement, not a question.

"That's right." Susan replied to him, not looking up from her magazine.

"I go to Hendon House. Across the road." He said to her. When she still didn't look up, he continued. "I've seen you..." He paused as Ari walked up and looked over Susan's shoulder at the magazine she was reading. "Sitting by yourself."

Susan rolled her eyes and turned to Ari while responding to the boy, who she now realized had a few skin problems. "Yes, well, that's because I prefer to be left alone."

"Me too!" He exclaimed. Susan sighed, rolling her eyes again and Ariana snickered. "What's your name?"

"Phyllis." Susan lied smoothly. He looked to Ari and asked her the same question.

"Millie." She said a little more quickly than she should have.

"Susan! Ari!" Lucy's voice called frantically. The two girls turned on instinct, not realizing that they had just been given away. Lucy's eyes were wide and she had a very worried expression on her face. "You better come quickly."

That was all the two older girls needed to know. Lucy's look and tone of voice were self explanatory. You see, Peter had the tendency the past couple of months to overreact at every little thing. There had been plenty of times where Edmund had to practically drag him home to keep him from punching someone. Ari and Susan quickly grabbed their bags and raced off towards the station, leaving the boy at the magazine stand very confused.

They ran into the subway. Lucy paused for a moment and stared at a stone lion guarding the gate. As they dashed down the stairs of the subway, screams and shouts could be heard coming from below. The scene was chaotic. There were at least a hundred students from the private schools shouting and crowding around four boys locked in a fist fight. One was Peter, and the other three were clearly older students that were most likely in their last year of school.

One of the older boys punched Peter in the jaw, sending him back against the wall. Peter tried to punch back, but before he could two of the boys held him against the wall while the other kneed him in the stomach. A person pushed by Ari and just before he jumped into the fight she saw who it was.

"Edmund, no!" She screamed as Edmund tackled one of the boys holding Peter to the wall. They rolled and Edmund flew into a fighting stance, back into battle mode after several long months. The boy swung a punch and Edmund ducked and kicked him in the skin, sending the older boy to his knees. Peter was faring a little worse, since he was against two, but now it was still more of a fair fight. He swung a punch, decking one of the two boys in the face.

Just as he was about to swing again, as shrill whistle filled the air. Edmund immediately backed away, melting stealthily into the crowd that backed off as a few soldiers went to break up the fight. A soldier grabbed Peter by the collar of his shirt and shook him.

"Act your age!" The soldier yelled at him. Peter seethed. He angrily shook the soldiers grip off of him and stormed over to where the other four were. Edmund set down his luggage next to the bench and sat down next to Ari.

"You're welcome." Edmund said as he looked up at Peter, who was now pacing back and forth in front of the bench.

"I had it sorted." Peter snapped back bitterly. Ariana rolled her green eyes.

"If you call getting your butt kicked, then yes. You had it sorted." She said sarcastically. Peter shot a glare her way and she only shrugged in response.

"What was it this time?" Susan sighed, giving her brother an exasperated look.

"He bumped me." Peter stated as if it was obvious.

"So you hit him?" Lucy gasped incredulously. "Peter, even you-"

"No." Peter said, cutting her off. "He bumped me, and then he and his _cronies_ tried to get me to apologize. When _I _had been the one in the right!" Peter kicked at a stone on the ground. "That's when I hit him." Ariana, Edmund, and Lucy all shared a collective eye-roll while Susan sighed again.

"Honestly, how hard is it to just _walk away_?" She drew out the words for emphasis.

"I shouldn't _have _to!" Peter shouted. "I mean, don't you ever get tired of being treated like a child?"

"I hate to burst your bubble there Pete, but we _are _kids." Ari said, gesturing between the five of them.

"I wasn't always." Peter said as he sat down on the empty seat between Edmund and Susan.

"Neither were we." Susan said. "But that's still no excuse."

"I know." Peter sighed, putting his hands in his head. "It's been a year...How long does Aslan expect us to wait to go back?"

"I think it's time to accept the fact that we live here, in England." Susan stated. "There's no use in pretending any different. It's only going to make you feel worse."

"But we can't just forget everything." Ari protested.

"Of course not." Susan said as she looked up. "Oh no..." She said as her eyes landed on the boy from the newspaper stand, who was walking their way.

"What's the matter, Susan?" Lucy asked. Ari chuckled as he saw why Susan's face had suddenly taken on a mask of horror.

"See that boy there? The one with all of the pimples?" She asked, earning a nod. "It seems like he fancies our dear Susan here."

"Pretend like you're talking to me." Susan exclaimed under her breath.

"We _are _talking to you, Su." Edmund said sarcastically.

"Ow!" Lucy suddenly exclaimed, jumping from her seat, just as you could hear the train coming near.

"Be quiet, Lucy." Susan whispered harshly. Lucy's exclamation hadn't gained any odd stares, but Susan wasn't about to chance earning some.

"Something pinched me!" Lucy said, glaring at the seat accusingly.

"Hey!" Peter said, jumping from his seat. He looked sharply at Edmund. "Stop pulling!"

"I'm not touching-" Edmund jumped from his seat too.

"Gah!" Ari squealed as she felt like something was tickling her all over.

"Okay, guys that's enough-" Susan shrieked in a very un-Susanlike way and jumped from her seat. "What _is_ that?" Susan exclaimed as the train started to pull into the station.

Lucy grinned. "It feels like magic!"

"Quick." Susan said as she grabbed Lucy's hand. "Everyone link hands." The train started to speed past, sending papers swirling in the air as it passed.

"I'm not holding _your _hand!" Edmund shouted at his brother. Ari rolled her eyes.

"Then hold mine!" She yelled over the sound of the passing train. She jumped between Peter and Edmund and then proceeded to link hands with both of them.

The train was moving with an alarming speed that shouldn't be humanely possible. The wind was so much that it began to peel posters and papers off of the bulletin boards, as well as the tiles off of the walls. The sign above them flew off of the wall, taking several bricks with it. At the beginning of the tunnel, the metal grates pulled great chunks of concrete off. They all flew back and disappeared.

The five teenagers looked around, seeing that no one else seemed to notice what was going on. The train continued speeding past. The station began flickering from where they were standing and to some other place. There was a blinding light as the train finally passed them, and then when they could see again, they were in shock. They were standing in the middle of a cave by the beach.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, there it is. That's the second chapter... I've already got up to halfway through chapter elecen typed up now, so I should update on a regular basis. :) Leave a smiley if you liked it! :D**


	3. Chapter 3: Chess And Council Meetings

**Author's Note: There will be a good deal of sarcasm in this chapter, and any chapter with Edmund and Ari in it together, so be warned. XD There's a lot more sibling banter in this story, or what I've got typed up so far at least. And also, there will be some references to their time during the Golden Age. :) I'll be editing the dialog from the original movie to make it funnier, more dramatic, or however I need it to be for the situation... I hope you guys like it. :) **

**Song for this chapter: It's Not Over by Chris Daughtry

* * *

**

The five children warily stepped out into the sunlight, the smell of salty sea air hitting them in the face as the waves crashed on the shore. They paused for a moment, then looked at each other. All five were wearing identical smiles. Then they took off running towards the water. They kicked off their shoes and socks on the way, throwing their jackets to the side as well.

Lucy and Susan started splashing each other, then squealed as Peter created a small wave of water that crashed over them. Edmund picked up Ari and twirled her around in the water. Then he waded deeper in the water. Ari, realizing his plan, began to protest.

"Edmund, don't you dare-" She stopped and took a breath as she felt the water come around her as Edmund fell backwards with her in his arms. She came up spluttering only to see him staring off into space.

"Ed?" She asked as she finally stopped spitting water out of her mouth.

"Where do you suppose we are?" He asked, squinting to see through the bright glare of the sun.

"Where do you think?" Peter asked, laughing. Ari took a mental note that he seemed to be in higher spirits now.

"Well.." Edmund began, gesturing to the top of the cliff in front of them. "_I _don't remember _any _ruins in Narnia during our reign. And you know I knew the whole country like the back of my hand."

"And yet you managed to get us lost in the marshes that one time when we were sent to rescue Princess Liniea from Archeland." Ari said sarcastically as she began to wade out of the water.

"Don't remind me of that!" Peter groaned. "I had to go and save your sorry asses when you got thrown into prison for an assassination attempt!"

"It wasn't _my_ fault we set the castle on fire!" Ari protested, throwing her hands in the air.

"Enough already!" Susan said exasperatedly. "We need to figure out where we are."

Everyone nodded and walked out of the water onto the beach. They gathered their belongings, and looked around for a less steep place to walk up to the top of the hill where the ruins were. Once they found one it didn't take them long to walk up. Peter walked over to an apple tree and picked off one of the bright red fruits off, tossing it to Lucy.

"Does anyone still have their sandwiches?" She asked as she took a bite out of the apple.

"Well..." Peter began. "I left mine in my bag. And then I left my bag in the train station... And then I left the train station in England."

There was a collective laugh as they continued up the hill. It wasn't long till they reached the ruins. Rubble lay around as far as the eye could see. There were a few crumbling walls here and there. They each set off in different directions to explore the ruins. Peter walked up what was left of some stone steps. Susan walked around a nearby area that was basically empty, but rocks were strewn around. Edmund was studying a set of columns that survived over the years. Ari wandered around aimlessly, looking at everything. Lucy took another bite of her apple and looked out at the ocean from the edge of the cliff.

"I wonder who lived here." She said loudly enough for everyone to hear. Susan, who was a few feet away, kicked something in the grass. She looked down and picked up a small golden trinket.

"I think _we _did." She said as she inspected the piece in her hand. It was a chess piece.

"Hey, that's mine...from my chess set!" Edmund exclaimed, snatching the knight out of Susan's hand.

"_Which _chess set?" Peter laughed.

"Well, I didn't exactly have a _solid gold _chess set in Finchley now, did I?" Edmund said sarcastically.

"Edmund... Wasn't that a part of the chess set we were using on the day we went back?" Ari said, her eyes widening slightly. Edmund opened his mouth to say something, but Lucy cut him off before he could.

Lucy looked out over the ruined dais. "It _can't _be!" She said in a whispered voice that was more to herself than anyone else. She immediately took off running.

"Lucy!" Peter exclaimed and tore after her.

"Don't you _see_?" She asked, her eyes shining.

"What?" Ari asked. Lucy began to arrange them in a line. First was Peter, then Susan, next was Edmund, then Ari, and lastly herself.

"Imagine walls..." She said, pointing. "And columns there...and a glass roof!"

Everyone looked out to where she was pointing, and a wave of sadness and nostalgia dawned upon them. No one spoke for a few minutes, letting it soak in. Finally, Peter broke the silence.

"Cair Paravel." He said, confirming that everyone was thinking the same thing.

"Edmund, I think this was from the chess set we were using on the day we went back!" Ari said excitedly, pointing to the golden knight that was still held tightly in his hand.

"By the Lion's mane, I think you're right!" Edmund said.

"I wonder how long it's been..." Ari said in a questioning tone.

"Well, we better look for our gifts, or we'll be out of luck." Peter suddenly said. Everyone nodded in agreement and then looked to Edmund.

"_What_?" He asked.

"You're the one who _says_ he knows Narnia like the back of his hand. Which way to the treasure room?" Ariana drawled. Edmund rolled his eyes.

"If my memory serves me right, it should be this way." He said as he indicated the direction.

=XxX=

General Glozelle and his men rode back across the bridge into the Telmarine castle. On a balcony overlooking the city, Miraz stood by Prunaprismia. He was holding his son in his arms. He spied his soldiers returning. He handed the baby over to his wife gently, and set off to the stables.

"Wait, my Lord!" Glozelle said as Miraz began to stride forward. "It is not what you think."

"Then _what _is it?" Miraz snapped.

"We're not exactly sure..." The general nodded to one of the soldiers. He removed a cloth off of one of the horses. Miraz's eyes widened.

"Impossible..." He breathed. He and the general shared a look.

In the Great Hall of the castle, the Telmarine lords were in a debate.

"I warned this council when it put its trust in Miraz..." Said one lord whose name was Sopespian. "There would be consequences."

"No!" Said lord Calanon. "We cannot accuse the Lord Protector without _proof_!"

"How long will we continue to hide behind _that _excuse?" Lord Rissian shouted. "Until _every _seat in this chamber is empty?" He opened his mouth to say more, but just then the doors opened and Miraz walked through.

"Lords of the council, my apologies for being late." He said as he took his seat. "I was not aware that we were in session."

"No doubt you were otherwise...occupied." Sopespian said.

"My Lord?" Miraz questioned.

"Ever since the death of King Caspian the ninth, you have behaved as if _you _were the king." Rissian said loudly. "And now it seems that from behind these very walls even the young Prince Caspian is no longer safe and has gone missing."

"My deepest condolences, Lord Miraz." Sopespian said. "Imagine, losing your nephew, the _rightful _heir to the throne, on the _very_ night your wife has blessed you with a son."

"Thank you, Lord Sopespian." Miraz said, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Your compassion is a boon in this troubled time." "I trust you can tell us how such a tragedy could have occurred." Sopespian drawled.

"That is the most disturbing news of all." Miraz said, disguising his voice with sadness. "Our beloved Prince Caspian has been abducted from under our very noses...by _Narnians _no less!"

"You go _too _far, Miraz!" Rissian burst out. "You expect the council to stand by while you blame such blatant crimes on _fairy tales_?"

At this Miraz nodded to the general. Glozelle opened the door and two soldiers brought in a struggling dwarf named Trumpkin. There was a collective gasp around the room.

"We forget, my lords..." Miraz began, looking around the room at the lords' expressions. "That Narnia was once a savage place. Fearsome creatures roamed free. Much of our forefathers' blood was shed to _exterminate _these vermin." He turned to Trumpkin. "Or so we thought. While we've been here safe in our castle, bickering amongst ourselves, they've been breeding like cockroaches under a rock!" He paused. "Growing stronger. Watching us. Waiting to _strike_!" On the word strike, he backhanded Trumpkin hard enough that the sounds echoed in the stone room.

"And you wonder _why _we don't like you?" Trumpkin said as he spit a bit of blood out of his mouth.

"Well _I _intend to strike back. Even if it means I have to tear down the entire forest in the process. I assure you, I will find Prince Caspian, and then I will finish what our ancestors began."

* * *

**Author's Note: There you go. Chapter three... The names for the Telmarine Lords aren't made up... They're actually elvish (Sindarin) names. XD I couldn't come up with anything, so I just took a few Elvish names that sounded vaguely Narnian, and used them. I wanted the Lords to have a name... :P I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a smiley if you did! :) **


	4. Chapter 4: The Treasure Room

**Author's Note: Chapter four is now here! :) I'm sorry for the wait. I didn't mean to keep you guys waiting for that long, even though it was only a few days... I like updating. :) So, go read it and tell me what you think!**

**Song for this chapter: On My Own by Three Days Grace

* * *

**

The five teenagers started walking. They glanced around at the ruins. Lucy looked like she was trying to choke back tears. After a few moments Edmund's eyes widened. He looked at one of the oddly shaped rocks that were laid around the entire hillside. He dropped to his knees.

"Catapults." He said, though it came out as nearly a snarl.

"What?" Peter asked in confusion. Edmund looked up at him with a grim expression on his face.

"This didn't just _happen_." Edmund said, looking at each of them in turn. "Cair Paravel was _attacked_."

"Who would do such a thing?" Lucy gasped.

"I know there were a few countries that didn't like us, but none of them tried anything like this while we were still reigning." Susan said. Everyone could tell she was narrowing down the countries in her mind.

"There was Calormen though." Ari said.

"Ass." Lucy muttered darkly under her breath, referring to Prince Rabadash. Everyone laughed at her use of colorful language.

"There!" Edmund said, getting to his feet again. He ran over to a wall, or what looked like one. "Help me out, will you Pete?" He said and began to push the stone slab. With the efforts of both Peter and Edmund, they moved the stone out of the way, revealing a rotted wooden door.

Peter braced himself to push the door down. Lucy rolled her eyes and walked past him and simply pushed on the door, which proceeded to crumble into wooden splinters. Peter snorted while everyone else laughed. He looked through the door at the darkness and tore a piece of his white school shirt off. He picked a stick off of the ground and wrapped the piece of cloth around it. He then looked at Edmund, who was the only one with a bag.

"You wouldn't happen to have any matches in that thing, would you?" He asked.

"No..." Edmund said, opening his back. He pulled out a silver electric torch and twirled it in his hands. "But would this help?" He grinned.

"You might have mentioned that a bit sooner!" Peter said, rolling his eyes. He tossed the stick to the side. Edmund flicked the torch on and began to lead them into the dark underground chamber. They all stepped inside carefully, watching where they stepped on the crumbling rock. Lucy paused when she saw the treasure chamber, and their five chests below. Then she rushed down the stairs with the rest of them.

"I can't believe it's all still here!" Peter said in amazement. They all ran over to their chests. Lucy pulled out a brilliant red dress that looked like it had been made just yesterday. She held it up to herself and saw that it was several inches longer than she was tall.

"I was so tall..." She said in wonder.

"Well, you were older then." Susan said as she rifled through her chest.

"As opposed to hundreds of years later...when you're younger." Edmund said as he put on a metal helmet. It was far too big for him and fell to cover his eyes.

"I always knew you had a big head, Edmund." Ari laughed, earning a glare from her husband.

"Oh hush." Edmund said, rolling his eyes.

"I love you too." She laughed, blowing him a kiss from across the room. She then searched through her trunk for some clothes that would actually fit her after all of these years.

Nearby, Peter blew the dust away from the large shield in his hands. He saw the image of a golden lion. He looked away to the statue of himself standing behind his chest. He set the item back down and slowly walked over to his trunk. He opened it and pulled out his sword, Rhindon, that laid on top of everything else. He slowly, reverently, drew it.

"When Aslan bares his teeth, winter meets its death." Peter said, reading the incription engraved on the silver metal.

"When he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again." Lucy said. Her eyes became misty with tears. "Everyone we knew... Mr. Tumnus and the Beavers...they're all gone."

"I think it's time we figured out what has been happened in Narnia since we've left." Peter said, straightening up.

"What is it, Susan?" Ari asked as she saw Susan frantically searching through her things now.

"My horn. I must have left it in my saddle on the day we went back!"

"We'll find it." Ari assured her. She pulled out a dress that was black in color. It was simple, and would be easy enough to walk in for a long period of time. Lucy had chosen a dress that was fairly simple as well. It was a ruby red color and had golden trim on the sleeves. Susan, of course, chose something a little more elegant. It was a navy blue dress with red accents, and it had trumpet style sleeves.

"Trust you, Susan, to have a fancy dress to wear at a time like this." Ari said as she rolled her eyes.

"There's nothing wrong with looking good." Susan said. Lucy snorted at this. The girls went to one side of the room to change, and the boys went to another. After everyone was changed, they gathered at the center of the dark chamber. Peter had changed into a red tunic and black pants, with boots to match. Edmund had chosen a brown tunic, black pants, and black boots. Each of the boys had an overcoat to go with it.

"Do you think we should get cloaks to wear?" Lucy asked.

"It might get cold out at night, so I think we should." Susan said, grabbing a long red cloak out of her chest. They each grabbed one of their cloaks and grabbed their weapons. Peter and Edmund each grabbed their swords and shields. Susan grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows, as well as a knife that she normally carried with her for protection. Lucy fastened her belt around her dress with her dagger and healing cordial on it. Ari took her lightweight sword and her bow and arrows. She also tied a small knife to her belt. It was quite handy for throwing and close range attacks.

After double checking that they each had what they needed, they set off through the dense forest. They had no clue which direction to go, but anywhere was better than where they were.

* * *

**Author's Note: I had a little trouble writing this chapter. I know, you would think that this was easy to write, but I went back and edited it so many times that I don't even remember how many it was. I'm not exactly sure that it turned out right, but...Just leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D**


	5. Chapter 5: A New Friend

**Author's Note: This chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but that's because I just felt it needed to end there... Anyways, I hope you guys like it. :) And I was a little disappointed. I only got THREE reviews after my last chapter being up for almost a week. NOT happy about that. Please review this time!  
**

**Song for this chapter: Crawling by Linkin Park

* * *

**

Two Telmarine soldiers rowed in a boat down the river. One looked at Trumpkin, who was bound and gagged in the bottom of the boat.

"He won't stop staring..." One of the soldiers said, his voice quaking with fear.

"So don't look at him." The other soldier bit back. The first soldier took no notice of his comrade's words and continued to stare at the dwarf. He finally just stopped rowing. He had a very anxious look on his face.

"Here's fine." He said, pushing the oars to the side. The two soldiers picked up Trumpkin and prepared to throw him in the water. Then, an arrow hit the side of the boat. The two soldiers looked up to see five children running up with weapons drawn.

Susan quickly notched another arrow in her bow. Ari stood beside her ready to fire her own weapon.

"Drop him!" Susan called in a loud, commanding voice. The dwarf's eyes widened and he repeated her words, though they were muffled by the gag in his mouth. The soldiers shrugged and tossed Trumpkin into the clear blue water.

One of the soldiers picked up a crossbow, immediately afterwards he found and arrow sticking from his chest. The other soldier jumped overboard, barely missed by another arrow. It flew right over his head and he could practically feel it singe his hairline. He quickly swam away.

Peter handed his sword and shield to Susan and dove into the water after Trumpkin, who was quickly sinking to the bottom. It was only moments later that the two surfaced, both gasping for air. Edmund towed the boat in and pushed the dead soldier into the water. Lucy unsheathed her dagger and cut the dwarf's bonds.

"'Drop him'?" Trumpkin said angrily as he pulled the gag out of his mouth. "That's the _best _you can come up with?" He snapped.

"A simple 'thank you' would suffice." Susan snapped back.

"_They _were doing _just _find drowning me without _your _help!" The red haired dwarf yelled as he stood to his feet.

"Maybe we should have just left you in the water then." Peter said. Lucy rolled her eyes and whacked him over the back of the head. She then looked at the dwarf.

"You'll have to excuse my brother. He seems to be having a very bad problem with his manners lately." She said, rolling her eyes once again. "Why were those soldiers trying to drown you anyways?"

"They're _Telmarines_." The dwarf said, sneering the word as if it left a foul taste in his mouth. "It's what they do for fun."

"Fun?" Lucy said, outrage clear on her face.

"_Telmarines_?" Ari asked in confusion.

"In Narnia?" Edmund continued for Ari.

"Where have _you _lot been for the last few hundred years?" Trumpkin snorted, not believing that they didn't know.

"Well..." Lucy said, grinning sheepishly. "It's a bit of a long story..."

Susan handed Peter back his sword and shield. The dwarf noticed the hilt of the sword and his eyes widened. He looked up at Peter, then surveyed them all.

"Oh you have _got _to be kidding me... You're it?" He said in a disbelieving tone. "_You're _the kings and queens of old?"

Peter stepped forward and held out his hand. "High King Peter...The Magnificent."

"You probably should have left off the last bit there, Pete." Ari said, rolling her eyes.

"Probably." Trumpkin said, chuckling.

"You might be surprised." Peter said as he drew his sword.

"Oh, you don't want to do that, boy." Trumpkin said, eying the sword with contempt.

"Not me." Peter said, shaking his head. "Him." He said, gesturing to Edmund who grinned brightly. "He is, after all, one of the best swordsmen in all of Narnia."

"_One _of the best?" Edmund snorted. "I _am _the best, and I've proven it time and time again to you, Peter."

"Don't get a big head, Edmund. It doesn't suit you." Ariana chided.

"Fine. Fine." Edmund said, putting his hands up in defeat, chuckling a little bit.

"Are we going to spar or not?" Trumpkin asked impatiently.

"Sure." Edmund said.

Peter looked at his brother as he handed Trumpkin his own sword. The dwarf took the sword, and then it dropped into the sand. Edmund drew his sword and grinned cheekily at Peter. Suddenly, Trumpkin knocked Edmund's sword away and swung. Edmund ducked, and Trumpkin hit him in the face with the pommel of Peter's sword. Ari winced from the sidelines. She hated seeing Edmund get hurt, even something as minor as this. She had a feeling he would bruise some because of his fair skin.

"Edmund!" Lucy screeched.

"Awe, you alright?" Trumpkin mocked.

They circled around in the sand. Edmund sank back into his element, getting used to having a sword in his hands once again. Trumpkin slashed at Edmund's feet, and he jumped with both feet off the ground so that the blow went underneath them. Edmund took his chance and began swinging savagely. He alternated between high and low blows until Peter's sword flew into the air and landed in the sand a few feet away. He stood with his sword pointed down at the dwarf. Trumpkin fell to his knees in the sand.

"Beards and bedsteads!" He exclaimed, looking at each of them in turn. "Maybe that horn worked after all."

"What horn?" Susan asked immediately.

"The one that Prince Caspian blew. It was your own, if I'm not mistaken Your Majesty."

"Now none of that 'Your Majesty' stuff." Susan said before anyone could say anything else. "It's too formal. This is not a formal situation, so it's only right that we call each other by our given names."

"That all sounds fine and dandy to me, but if it's all the same, I'd like you call you Your Majesty anyways. It's about time we had someone to look up to instead of those filthy men who call themselves kings." Trumpkin said.

"Alright then. I guess that's fine with everyone." Susan said. "Now, about that horn..."

* * *

**Author's Note: There's the end of chapter five... Don't hate me for it being shorter! D: Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D (Please? I'll update faster!)  
**


	6. Chapter 6: A Traitorous Prince

**Author's Note: Chapter six is here already! :) Thanks for all of you for sticking by me! :D You guys really made up for the low amount of reviews in chapter four. Thanks! I love all of my reviewers! Oh, there's no Pevensie action in this chapter, by the way... XD  
**

**Song for this chapter: Running Away by Three Days Grace

* * *

**

Deep in the Narnian forest, in a small hut, Prince Caspian was finally waking up. He opened his eyes to find his head bandaged. He blinked his eyes in the dim light and felt his head, which felt like it was on fire. It throbbed in pain as he took the bandage off of his forehead. It wasn't doing him much good now. He heard voices coming from in the adjacent room, and he strained to hear what they were saying.

"This bread is so stale." A first voice complained.

"I'll just give him some soup then." Snapped a second voice.

"_You _said you'd get rid of him." The first voice complained again. Caspian didn't dare move, for fear of being caught.

"No, that wasn't what I said at all." Said the second voice. "I _said _that I would take care of him."

"Well, I still don't think I hit him over the head hard enough." Caspian's eyes widened as he realized that the first voice was the dwarf that had hit him over the head. He wasn't sure how long he had been out, and he didn't want to know either.

"Nikabrik!" The first voice snapped harshly. "He's only a boy!"

"He's a _Telmarine _soldier! He's not some lost animal!" The dwarf, whose name was Nikabrik, snarled.

"Well, we're not going to kill him now. I've just bandaged his head. It would be like murdering a guest." The first voice said.

"Well, I wonder how his friends are treating _their _guest." Nikabrik said, anger apparent in his voice.

"Trumpkin knew what he was doing when he went blade drawn into those soldiers." The first voice said.

Caspian took his chance and bolted for the door. He ran into a small badger, who was holding a bowl. Hot soup spilled all over the floor at Caspian's feet. Nikabrik jumped to his feet and drew a small sword. Caspian pulled a hot poker out of the fireplace. He jerkily blocked the dwarf's blows.

"See! I _told _you that we should have killed him when we had the chance, Trufflehunter ." Nikabrik snapped at the badger.

"You know good and well why we can't!" The badger said loudly.

"If we're taking a vote, I'm with him." Caspian said, pointing at the badger.

"We can't let him go!" Nikabrik said, thrusting his sword at the prince once more. "He's seen us!"

"That's quite enough, Nikabrik!" Trufflehunter said as Nikabrik swung his sword a few more times. "Or do I have to sit on your head again?"

The dwarf stopped and stormed angrily over to the small table in the center of the room. The badger picked up the bowl off of the floor and dried where the soup had been spilled. He then turned to Caspian, eying him with contempt.

"Now, look what you made me do." He turned away and began to walk toward the small black stove. "I spent half the morning on that soup."

"Wha-what are you?" Caspian stuttered. He knew very well that the pair was a badger and a dwarf, he just wanted to be sure he wasn't dreaming.

"It's funny." Trufflehunter snorted. "You'd think more people would know a badger when they saw one."

"No..." Caspian said, trying to phrase his words in his head before he said them out loud. "You're _Narnians_...You're supposed to be extinct."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Said Nikabrik, a sneer on his face. Trufflehunter returned with more soup for Caspian.

"Here we are." He said, pushing the bowl towards the prince. "Still hot."

"Since when did we change our home into a boarding house for Telmarine soldiers?" Nikabrik said sarcastically.

"I'm _not _a soldier!" Caspian said indignantly. "I am Prince Caspian...The tenth."

"What are _you _doing _here_?" Nikabrik asked, his eyes narrowing when Caspian stated who he was.

"Running away." Caspian said, sighing as he thought of his former home.

"Well this changes things." Trufflehunter said, smiling a badgery sort of smile.

"Yes..." Nikabrik said, more to himself than to anyone else. "It means that we won't have to kill you ourselves."

"You're right." Caspian said suddenly, standing to his feet. In the process, he managed to spill the second bowl of soup.

"Where are you going?" Trufflehunter asked.

"Away from here." Caspian said, going towards the door. "My uncle is not going to stop until he is sure that I am dead."

"You don't understand!" Trufflehunter protested. "You're meant to save us!"

Caspian turned around and saw what Trufflehunter was holding. It was the ivory horn that professor Cornelius had given him before he left the castle. He had half a mind to snatch it out of the badger's hand, but thought better of it after he saw how he reverently held it.

"Don't you even know what this is?"

Caspian stared at the horn in the badger's hands.

=XxX=

Doctor Cornelius walked into his study to see lord Miraz waiting for him. He was idly reading a book, and was propped up against the wall.

"You have quite a library here." Miraz said as he placed the book back on the shelf.

"Is there anything in particular that my Lord is looking for?" Cornelius asked as he set a few books on his desk.

"I think I've already found what I'm looking for..." Miraz said. In a flash, he brought his hand down. "In one of my soldiers!" Miraz snarled, outraged.

Cornelius looked closely at the arrow, which was sticking into a picture of the five kings and queens of old Narnian times. The pages were quite frayed and the spine of the book was breaking apart. It was a very old and delicate book. Miraz sat down in a nearby chair and propped his feet up on the table.

"What do you know about Queen Susan's horn?" He asked the old professor.

"It was rumored to be a magic horn."

"Magic?" Miraz asked, almost sneering the word.

"The Narnians believed it could summon their kings and queens of old. At least, such was the superstition." Cornelius added the last part more for his benefit than for Miraz.

"And what did the young Prince know about this...superstition?" Miraz asked, his voice deadly.

"My Lord, you forbade me from mentioning the old tales to him."

"So I did." Miraz said. Cornelius noticed General Glozelle standing at the ready with a couple of soldiers nearby the door.

"I will say this." Cornelius said, his voice low, but sharp. "If Caspian does know of the Deep Magic, my lord would have a good reason to be nervous."

No sooner had the words been uttered from his mouth, he had been arrested. The soldiers took him away, dragging the old man roughly through the corridors. Glozelle and Sopespian stood in the hallway, watching.

"First it was our prince, and now it is his tutor." Sopespian said, a small hint of malice in his voice. "If the members of Miraz' house are not even safe, are any of us?"

"Those are dangerous words, even for you, Lord Sopespian." Glozelle replied.

"Lord Sopespian!" Miraz called.

"These are dangerous times, General." Sopespian said, lowering his voice. "One should choose his words as carefully as his friends." Sopespian walked back into Cornelius' study.

"How long until the bridge is completed?" Miraz asked.

"Construction continues on schedule." Sopespian replied.

"That's _not _good enough!" Miraz shouted, standing from his seat abruptly. "I need my army across that river, _now_!"

"May I suggest that you contribute some of your _own _men?" Sopespian said, his voice low. "I only have so many at my disposal."

"A fact you would do well to remember." Miraz replied. He turned to General Glozelle who was waiting at the door.

"Go to Beruna." Miraz said to the General. "Take as many troops as you need. We _must _get to Caspian before _they _do."

"'They'?" Sopespian questioned.

"It's time you learned your history." Miraz said, looking pointedly at the arrow that was sticking out of a large book on the desk. He exited the room. Sopespian looked at the book curiously. It held artwork of five young royals riding horses. After a few seconds pause, he began to read.

* * *

**Author's Note: That last paragraph was a bit choppy, but overall I think I did a good job... Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D**


	7. Chapter 7: A More Savage Place

**Author's Note: Here's chapter seven! :D I hope you guys like it... I wrote it at 2:30 in the morning on a school night, so... It's not my best. Just so you know, there will be some angst in this story, and a bit of tragedy... Yeah, I hate sad stuff, but the idea has been stuck in my head for like... months. I have to write it otherwise I'm going to explode... You'd think that was funny, wouldn't you? XD**

**Song for this chapter: Goodbye Apathy by Onerepublic

* * *

**

The four Pevensies, Ari, and Trumpkin rowed down glasswater. Peter and Edmund took turns rowing. Ari sat in the bottom of the boat, resting her head against Edmund's leg as he steered the boat. Susan stared blankly ahead. Lucy looked up at the trees with a sad expression on her face.

"They're so still." She whispered sadly.

"They're trees." Trumpkin snorted. "What else would you expect?"

Lucy looked offended. "They used to dance."

"It wasn't long after you left that the Telmarines invaded. Those that survived the invasion retreated to the woods." Trumpkin said. "And as for the trees... they retreated so deeply inside themselves that no one has heard from them since."

"I don't understand..." Lucy said, looking up at the trees again. "How could Aslan let something like _this _happen?"

"Aslan?" Trumpkin scoffed. "I thought he abandoned us not too long after you lot did."

"We didn't leave on purpose, you know." Peter said.

"Well, it doesn't make much difference _now_, does it?" Trumpkin said, resentment clear in his voice.

"When we get to the Narnians, it will." Peter said, rowing harder than before. It jolted the boat, and Ari blanched.

"Don't row so hard, Pete." Ari said, her face even paler than normal. "It's making me nauseas."

Peter nodded and slowed down some. Edmund looked down at his wife, concern etched on his face. She simply shook her head in response. They finally reached a good place to land. Peter rowed the boat to shore, and they all climbed out of the boat. Trumpkin tied down the boat.

Ari staggered a bit. Edmund put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

"I'm fine. I just need to eat something. I only had a bite of toast to eat this morning." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Alright. If you say so." Edmund said to her. He wasn't sure, but there was something..._off_ about her today. In fact, if he thought about it, this had been going on for almost a week. He made a mental note to keep a close eye on her since she was very prone to getting herself into trouble, whether it be with people, or with illness. He looked up when he heard Trumpkin yell loudly.

"Don't move, your majesty!" The dwarf yelled. Edmund and Ari looked and saw Susan notching an arrow in her bow.

"Stay away from her!" Susan yelled. Ari looked the opposite direction and saw a bear charging for Lucy.

"Shoot, Susan! Shoot!" She screamed. The bear continued charging. Lucy shrieked as she fell to the ground. Just before the bear reached her, an arrow hit it square in the heart.. It fell to the ground, dead. Everyone looked over and saw that it was Trumpkin that had fired.

"Why wouldn't it stop?" Susan asked.

"I expect it was hungry." Trumpkin replied nastily. They all ran over to Lucy. Peter helped her up and held her close while he pointed his sword at the bear's body.

"He was...wild." Edmund said, astonishment evident in his voice.

"I don't think he could talk at all..." Ari said quietly as she looked sadly at the dead bear.

"If you get treated like a dumb animal long enough, that's what you become." Trumpkin said as he drew his knife. "You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember."

=XxX=

Caspian walked through a dense forest of ferns. He stopped after he walked for a few yards.

"I can hear you." He said. Behind him, Trufflehunter and Nikabrik came out of hiding.

"I just think we should wait for the kings and queens." Trufflehunter said. Caspian shook his head and kept walking.

"Fine, go then! See if the others will be as understanding." Trufflehunter said loudly.

"Or maybe I'll come with you. I want to see you explain things to the minotaurs!" Nikabrik sneered. Caspian stopped again.

"Minotaurs?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly. "They're real?"

"And bad tempered." Trufflehunter replied.

"Not to mention big." Nikabrik laughed.

"Huge." Trufflehunter supplied.

"What about centaurs?" Caspian asked. "Do they still exist?"

"Well, the centaurs will most likely fight on your side. There's no telling what the rest of them will do though." Trufflehunter said, answering his question.

"And what about Aslan?" Caspian asked. Both Trufflehunter and Nikabrik fell silent. They looked at each other.

"How do you know so much about us?" Nikabrik asked.

"Stories." Caspian answered simply.

"Wait just a minute..." Trufflehunter said. "Your father told you stories about Narnia?"

"No, my professor did..." Caspian replied, a faraway look in his eyes. Then he snapped back to reality. "Look, these are not the kind of questions you should be asking me." Caspian walked off. Trufflehunter sniffed the air.

"What is it?" Nikabrik asked.

"Human."

"Him?" Nikabrik gestured to Caspian.

"No...Them!" Trufflehunter pointed into the distance where at least a dozen Telmarine soldiers were standing.

"There they are!" One Telmarine soldier shouted.

"Run!" Trufflehunter said. They all raced in the opposite direction as arrows flew all around them. Caspian dodged several. One hit the badger and he fell.

"Oh no..." Nikabrik said.

"Wait, I'll go!" Caspian said, running towards the badger, and back towards the arrows. Trufflehunter shoved the horn at Caspian.

"Take it! Go! It's more important than I am!" The badger yelled at the prince. He looked up as the soldiers took aim. Just then, the ferns around them started to rustle. One soldier fell. Caspian looked confused, but he picked up Trufflehunter and ran. More soldiers fell as they pursued them. Caspian reached Nikabrik and put the badger down.

"Get him out of here." He said to the dwarf. Caspian drew his sword and started walking back towards the archers. Another soldier fell. The last one still left standing threw down his crossbow and drew his sword. He began swinging wildly at the ferns around him at his feet.

"Where are you?" He shouted to no one. Suddenly, the soldier fell. The rustle in the ferns started coming towards Caspian. Then, something flipped out of the plants and knocked the young prince down. A small sword flew into the air, landed in the creatures' hand, and was pointed at Caspian's throat.

"Choose your last words carefully, Telmarine."

Caspian stared in shock. "You are a mouse!"

The mouse sighed. "I was hoping for something a little more original. Come on. Pick up your sword."

Caspian looked over at his sword that was lying on the ground next to him. "Uh...no thanks." He said lamely.

"Pick it up!" The mouse demanded. "I will not fight an unarmed man."

Caspian wracked his brain for something to say. "Which is why I will live longer if I choose not to cross blades with you, noble mouse."

"I said I wouldn't fight you." The mouse said, jabbing the small sword at Caspian's neck. "I didn't say that I would let you live."

"Reepicheep! Stay your blade!" Trufflehunter yelled from a few feet away.

"Trufflehunter?" Reepicheep said, aghast. "I hope you have a very good reason for this untimely interruption."

"He doesn't. Go ahead." Nikabrik said.

"He's the one that blew the horn!" Trufflehunter snapped. The mouse stared at Caspian.

"What?"

"Then let him bring it forward." A deep voice said. Caspian looked over and saw four centaurs come over the hill. "This is the reason we have gathered."

* * *

**Author's Note: Not my best chapter, but I think it's decent... Any guesses as to what's wrong with Ari? I want to hear what you guys come up with. XD ...because I don't even know yet... Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D **


	8. Chapter 8: Invisible Lions

**Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long so post this chapter! I've been soo busy lately that I haven't had time... Even though I've had it typed up for a couple of weeks. I've got up to chapter 14 typed up now. :) This chapter has a couple of sweet moments between Ari and Edmund, as well as showing some of Peter's frustration.. :) **

**Over 10,000 words ALREADY! :D Wow... That's a lot of words... I'm hoping it will be longer than my last story, though I'm sorry I kept you guys waiting for a lot of those chapters... XD Anyways, on to the story! :D**

**Oh! And thank you guys for all of the reviews! I have more reviews for this story in 7 chapters than I did in my last one, so I guess that means that I am off to a good start. :)  
**

**Song for this chapter: Someone Who Cares by Three Days Grace

* * *

**

The five humans and their dwarf companion walked through the woods.

"I don't remember this way at all." Susan said, breaking the silence.

"You see, that's the problem with girls. They can't carry a map in their heads." Peter joked.

"That's because _our _heads actually have something in them." Lucy snorted. Ari looked over at a tree and suddenly stopped.

"Peter, we're going in circles." She said.

"No we're not."

"Yes we are. We've passed that tree right there at least three times." She said, pointing to a large tree just past peter. "Look on the other side. There should be a carving on it that I did when I saw it for the _second _time."

Peter rolled his eyes, but walked over to the tree anyways. His face flushed red when he looked and he turned away abruptly. "That doesn't mean _anything_!"

Peter continued to walk. Susan looked over at Lucy. "I wish he'd just listened to the DLF in the first place."

"DLF?" Edmund asked.

Lucy grinned. "Dear Little Friend."

"That's not at all patronizing, now is it?" Trumpkin said sarcastically. Edmund and Ari snickered a bit before Trumpkin shot them a look.

Up ahead, Peter stepped into a rock passage and stopped. "I'm not lost." He muttered to himself.

"No, you're just going the wrong way." Trumpkin said sardonically.

"You said that you last saw the prince in the shuddering wood. The quickest way there is to cross at the river rush." Peter fumed.

"But, unless I'm mistaken, there's no crossing in these parts" Trumpkin bit back.

"Well, that's just it then. You're mistaken." Peter said before storming off into the woods once more.

The four others followed Peter. They continued walking until they came upon a gorge. Edmund carefully leaned over the edge and looked at the river rushing by several yards below.

"See, over time, the water eroded at the soil, carving deep into the-" Susan began.

"Oh shut up." Peter snapped at her. "I _wasn't _lost." He said, sending Ari a look. She rolled her eyes while Edmund snickered.

"Is there any way down?" Edmund asked after a moment.

"Yeah..._Falling_." Trumpkin said, sarcastically. "There's a ford at Beruna. I hope you don't mind swimming."

"At this point _anything _is better than walking." Susan said, rubbing her ankles.

"I _told _you not to wear those shoes." Ari said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh hush."

They started to walk away, but Lucy looked back on impulse. "Aslan?" She said quietly. Then her eyes widened and she shouted her next words. "It's Aslan! It's Aslan over there!" She said, pointing across the gorge as she turned to the others. "Can't you see him? He's right over..." She turned back and her bright smile faded. She saw nothing but bushes, trees, and shrubs. "...there."

"Do you see him _now_?" Trumpkin said sardonically.

"I'm _not _crazy." Lucy snapped. "He _was _there. He must want us to follow him."

"Look, I'm not about to jump off a bloody cliff after someone who _doesn't_ exist."

"He does too exist!" Lucy said indignantly.

"The last time _I _didn't believe Lucy, I ended up looking pretty stupid." Edmund said softly, looking at the ground. Ari turned sharply and gave him a hard stare.

"That was a long time ago." Ari said. When Edmund didn't respond she continued. "You're _not _that man anymore, Edmund."

"I know, but it still doesn't change the fact of what I did." Edmund said, the look in his eyes sorrowful and full of regret. The tension in the air was thick as reminders of their first few weeks in Narnia were brought up.

"Edmund, how many times to I have to tell you?" Ari said quietly. "I love you because of what you became, now who you were. You changed yourself, and that makes all the difference."

Edmund smiled and pulled Ari into a hug. Susan smiled gently and patted him on the back. Peter sighed and looked to his youngest sibling.

"Why wouldn't any of us see Aslan?" He asked.

"Maybe you weren't looking." Lucy said, reminding everyone once again that she wasn't some ordinary thirteen year old. She had wisdom beyond her years.

"I'm sorry, Lu." Peter said. He turned and began to walk in the opposite direction. Susan sighed and followed him, Trumpkin right behind her.

"It'll be alright, Lucy." Ari said, putting an arm around her sister-in-law.

"He'll come around. He always does." Edmund said, looking at Peter's retreating back.

"Come on, before they get too far off." Ari said, looking down at a sad Lucy. The dark haired girl nodded and began walking.

=XxX=

At the Dancing Lawn, it was chaos. Narnians shouted over each other. It was so loud that Caspian could barely hear himself think. He was slightly shaking with fear as he saw all of the large creatures. He held Queen Susan's horn in his hand firmly, as if holding onto a lifeline in the ocean.

"All _this _proves is that the Telmarines have stolen yet another thing from us!" Nikabrik shouted, shaking a fist at Caspian.

"I didn't steal anything!" Caspian protested.

"Didn't steal anything?" I minotaur boomed. "Shall we list the things that the Telmarines have taken?"

"Our homes!" A dwarf shouted.

"Our freedom!" A faun screamed.

"Our lives!" Screeched a Narnian.

"You would hold _me _accountable for the crimes that my people have committed?" Caspian yelled over the noise.

"Accountable, and punishable." Nikabrik sneered.

"That's rich coming from _you _dwarf." Reepicheep spoke up. "If you remember correctly it was your people that fought alongside the White Witch."

"I'd gladly do it all over again if it meant ridding us of these barbarians!" Nikabrik bit back.

"Then I count it lucky that it is not in your power to bring her back." Trufflehunter said mildly. "Or do you want us to ask this boy to go against Aslan?" The badger's words caused another uproar from the Narnians. He paused and waited for them to calm before he spoke again. "Some of you may have forgotten, but we badgers remember well, that Narnia was never right unless a Son of Adam was king."

"He's a Telmarine! Why would we want him as our king?" Nikabrik ground out through gritted teeth.

"Because I can help you." Caspian said, speaking up once again. The Narnians turned to him. "Beyond these woods I am a prince. The Telmarine throne is rightfully _mine. _Help me claim it and I will make peace between the Narnians and the Telmarines."

"It is true." Said the deep voice of one of the centaurs, named Glenstorm. "The time is ripe. I watch the skies, for it is mine to watch as it is yours to remember, badger. Tarva, the Lord of Victory, and Alambil, the Lady of Peace have met in the Heavens, and here a Son of Adam has come forth to offer us freedom."

"Is it possible?" Asked Pattertwig the squirrel. "Do you really think there can be peace? Do you really?"

"Two days ago I didn't believe in any of this. I didn't believe in talking animals, or dwarfs, or centaurs..." Caspian said, taking in each creature. "Yet here you are in strength and numbers that we Telmarines could _never _have imagined. Whether this horn is magical or not, it has brought us together. And together, we have a chance to take back what is rightfully ours!" Caspian spoke with a loud, clear voice.

"If you will lead us, then my sons and I offer you our swords." Glenstorm said.

"And we offer you our lives...unreservedly." Reepicheep said as he bowed.

"Miraz' army will not be far behind, Sire." Trufflehunter said.

Caspian turned to Glenstorm. "If we are to be ready for them, we must hurry to find as many soldiers and weapons as we can. I am sure they will be here soon."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than I originally planned... But, it'll have to do. Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D**


	9. Chapter 9: A Push In The Right Direction

**Author's Note: So... Here's chapter nine. This isn't much of an author's note, but it's there anyways, because If I don't write something in bold up here it's going to annoy the crap out of me... XD**

**Well, I did think of something as I was reading over the chapter again... This story seems to be moving a lot quicker than my last one. I only hope it will be as good as my last story.. What do you guys think so far? I just want to make sure that I'm living up to my own writing... if that makes any sense at all... Anyways... On to the story! :D**

**Song for this chapter: Overrated by Three Days Grace

* * *

**

The five teenagers and their dwarf companion hid behind a stack of logs. They watched on in horror and awe as the Telmarine soldiers were hard at work building a bridge across the river of Beruna. They flattened themselves against the timber as three men on horses rode by swiftly. They were so close that any one of the hidden Narnians could have reached out and touched the horses. Not one of them even dared to breath until the danger had passed.

"Guess the swimming option's out." Whispered Ari sarcastically. Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Peter. He gritted his teeth and quietly crept off into the woods. The other five quickly followed. They hurried through the woods until they were at a safe distance away from all of the Telmarine soldiers. Then they walked back towards the gorge where Lucy had seen Aslan.

"Where do you think you saw Aslan?" Peter asked his youngest sister after they were back on the cliff side.

"I wish you'd all stop acting like grown-ups." Lucy said snappily. "I don't _think _I saw Aslan. I _did_ see him."

"I _am _a grown-up." Trumpkin muttered. Edmund tried to cover up a grin, but in the end he let out a small snicker. Ari elbowed him in the ribs, even though she herself was grinning.

"It was right over..." Lucy said, walking to the edge of the cliff. The gave a loud shriek as the ground beneath her feet crumbled. Everyone rushed forward and looked over the side of the cliff. Lucy was sitting safely just a few feet below. "Here."

Everyone looked down. They saw a steep and narrow path leading slantwise down into the gorge between the rocks. The each carefully slipped down the few feet and began to walk down the pathway. Lucy slipped on one of the rocks at the bottom as she crossed the river. Trumpkin steadied her. She looked up at the trees as she walked on.

Later on that night the six of them sat around a fire after eating a dinner of fish. It wasn't much, but it was still food. They talked for a few minutes, then each decided it was better to go to sleep so they could rise early in the morning.

Peter, Lucy, Susan, and Trumpkin laid on a cloak each. Edmund and Ari lay side by side on one cloak. They had loaned one to Trumpkin since he didn't have one of his own. The night air was warm, so they didn't really need to have one to cover up with. Peter was hard asleep, as well as Trumpkin. From her side, she could hear Edmund lightly snoring in her ear. She snuggled up close to him and willed herself to fall asleep. Nearby, Lucy was having trouble sleeping. She stared up at the Narnian night sky, watching with her hands behind her head.

"Lucy, are you awake?" Susan whispered, not wanting to wake everyone up.

"Hmm." Lucy hummed in response.

"Why do you think I couldn't see Aslan?" Susan asked quietly. Lucy sat up and looked at her sister with a skeptical expression.

"You believed me?" Lucy asked.

"Well...We got across the gorge safely." Susan said, not sure if she really believed Lucy or not.

"I don't know..." Lucy said. "Maybe you didn't really want to."

"You always knew we were coming back here, didn't you, Lu?" Susan asked.

"I never gave up hope that we would return."

Susan sighed. "I just now got used to living in England again."

"You _are _happy to be back here though, aren't you?" Lucy asked, giving her sister an odd look.

"While it lasts." Susan said. She rolled over and was silent after that. It wasn't long after till Lucy fell asleep.

At dawn, a growl woke her from her sleep. She sat up and looked around at her sleeping family and new friend. She then proceeded to get up and walked away from the campsite. She pushed branches out of the way as she made her way through the forest. A dryad pushed by her, laughing. The trees in front of her moved to the side to make a path for her to walk.

"Lucy..." A voice softly floated through the air. Lucy's head whipped around and there he was. The lion stood on top of a hill, looking down at her. Lucy grinned and ran joyfully to Aslan.

"I've missed you so much!" She said as she flung her arms around his mane. "You've grown!" She exclaimed.

"Every year you grow, so shall I." Aslan chuckled.

"Where have you been?" Lucy said, her tone slightly accusing. "Why haven't you come to help us?"

"Things never happen the same way twice, dear one."

A twig snapped and Lucy's eyes flew open. It was only a dream. She looked over to Susan, who was sleeping.

"Susan! Get up!" She whispered harshly, desperately trying not to wake any of the others.

"Certainly, Lu." Susan mumbled as she rolled over. "Whatever you like." Susan snored lightly, signaling that she was still asleep. Lucy frowned. She finally made up her mind and got up and walked into the woods away from the campsite. She walked through the dormant trees and laid a hand on the trunk of one of them.

"Wake up." She said sadly to it. She sighed and kept walking. Before long, she heard a low growl.

"Aslan?" She asked, more to herself than anyone else. She was so caught up in finding the source of the growl that she didn't hear the light footsteps coming up behind her. A hand clapped down over her mouth and when she tried to squeal, no sound came out. The person pulled her behind a rock and she turned around to see who it was.

* * *

**Author's Note: This chapter is shorter than most of my chapters, but since it's like... 3 AM I think I have an excuse. I want to end it here instead of somewhere else along the line... Caspian comes in in the next chapter! :D So, you finally get to see Peter's first impression on Caspian... And Susan's first impression on Caspian. XD I know some of you might not like it, but I do think the pairing of Susan and Caspian is cute. So, yes... I am a Susepian shipper. Go ahead... Tell me how much you don't like them together... She's better than the star that we never even know her name.. THAT'S how unimportant the star girl is... SUSAN is much better. XD**

**Leave a smiley face if you liked it!**


	10. Chapter 10: A New Ally

**Author's Note: Once again I'm sorry for the wait... I've been extremely busy lately. Apologies for the crude ending on the last chapter as well... It wasn't my best. Hopefully this one is better. I have been hoping to have regular updates. :) Hopefully you wont have to wait too long for the next one. XD**

**Oh, and just to let everyone know, I had the most awesome weekend! I went to a competition and won first place in the girl's vocal solo part! :D  
**

**Song for this chapter: Just Like You by Three Days Grace

* * *

**

Lucy rolled her eyes as she saw that the person who grabbed her was her own brother, Peter. He pointed over and she turned around. He was pointing at a minotaur that was holding an ax that was as big as she was. _That _must have been the source of the growl. Peter signaled for her to be quiet, then he drew his sword. He slowly started to walk towards the minotaur. Suddenly, another boy about Peter's size flew out of nowhere. He moved so quickly it was nearly a blur.

The sword clashed against Peter's, knocking it to the side. Peter recoiled and immediately took a fighting stance, the minotaur all but forgotten. The stranger swung again. Peter blocked, but barely had time. He had to admit, this guy had skills, even if he was an enemy. Lucy watched, doe-eyed, from where she was hidden.

Peter swung savagely, but the other boy ducked. Peter's sword stuck into the tree behind his tan-skinned attacker. Before he could even blink the wind was knocked out of him, caused by being kicked in the stomach. While the stranger struggled to get Peter's sword out of the tree, Peter got his breath back. As soon as he could, he picked up the largest rock within his reach and stood. He lifted his hand to smash the boy's head as he pulled Peter's sword out of the tree, but a scream stopped him.

"No, don't!" Lucy shrieked. Peter froze. As his eyes focused to everything around him, he realized that dozens of Narnians were coming out of the forest. They all stared at the pair with interest. The other human pointed Rhindon at Peter, breathing heavily.

"Prince Caspian?" Peter said, realization dawning upon him.

"Yes." Said Caspian. "And who are you?"

Peter opened his mouth to respond but he was cut off by his sister shouting.

"Peter!" Susan yelled. Edmund, Ari, and Trumpkin were right behind her. Caspian's eyes flickered between the newcomers and then to the sword in his hand. He looked closely at the Lion head on it. His eyes widened in realization.

"High King Peter." He said, astonished.

"I believe you called." Peter said nonchalantly, looking at his nails.

"Well, yes..." Caspian began. He looked at each of them in turn. "I just thought you would be older than this."

"Well, we can always come back in a few years, if you would like that better." Peter said, turning to walk away.

"Peter!" Ari scolded as the group walked towards the Narnians. "I'm sorry. He's _not _always like this."

"No! Of course not." Caspian said, looking at the shorter girl. "It's just that you aren't at all what I expected." Caspian's eyes flickered to Susan as he said this, and it did not go unnoticed by a few of the other royals.

"Neither are you." Edmund said. He looked warily at a minotaur nearby, remembering all too well that they had fought against each other in the very first war they had ever been in.

"A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes." Trufflehunter the badger said.

"We have anxiously awaited your return, my liege." Said Reepicheep. "Our hearts and swords are at your service."

Lucy looked at Reepicheep and grinned at Susan. "Oh my gosh, he's so cute!" She gushed.

"Who said that?" Demanded the mouse as he drew he sword with his tail. Lucy meekly raised her hand and muttered an apology.

"Oh, uh...Your Majesty." Reepicheep said, not quite knowing how to respond. "With the greatest respect...I do believe that courageous, courteous, or chivalrous might more befit a knight of Narnia."

"Well, at least we know some of you can handle a blade." Peter said, sending a scathing look at Caspian, who glared back.

"Yes, indeed." Said the mouse, not noticing the exchange of glares going on above his head. "And I have recently put it to good use acquiring weapons for your army, sire."

"Good." Peter said shortly. "We're going to need every sword we can get."

"Then you'll probably be wanting _yours _back." Caspian said, extending the sword out. Peter sheathed his sword and stormed off.

=XxX=

Back at the Telmarine encampment, Lord Miraz was not a happy man. He and General Glozelle stood staring at an empty wagon that should have been holding weapons for their army.

"How much did they take?" Miraz seethed.

"Enough for three regiments..." Glozelle said. "And that is not all that they did."

He lowered the door of the wagon slowly, worrying that Miraz would be further angered by what he would see. On the wood there was one sentence carved into the woods.

"You were right to fear the woods." Miraz read.

"X?" Asked Sopespian.

"Caspian..." Miraz said, his eyes aglow with anger. "The Tenth."

"I know my orders, my lord." Glozelle said, stepping forward. "The blame is mine."

"I know." Miraz said, turning sharply. "Tell me...how many men were killed?"

"None, sir." Glozelle replied immediately.

"None?" Miraz asked, an evil glint in his eyes.

"They came like ghosts in the dead of night. We never even knew they were here."

"Then how do you explain your injuries?" Miraz asked. When Glozelle didn't answer right away he was backhanded across the face hard enough to draw blood from his lip.

"I asked, how many men did you lose in this bloody Narnian attack, of which you were the fortunate survivor?" Miraz asked, his voice deadly. He held out a sword to the general. "General...how many?"

Glozelle, his lip bleeding, hesitated to look back at three soldiers behind him. Then he took hold of the sword. "Three."

Miraz walked away and turned to Sopespian. "My apologies, Lord Sopespian. Prince Caspian is not the victim of this savage uprising. He is the instigator." He said as he swung into the saddle of his horse. "It seems Narnia is in need of a new king."

* * *

**Author's Note: There's chapter ten! :D It's a little shorter than I would have liked, but... Meh. Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D**


	11. Chapter 11: Taken

**Author's Note: Here's chapter eleven! I hope you guys like it. It wasn't easy to write... You'll see why... The next three or four chapters will be filled with a few scenes that made me cry... **

**Anyways, I'm just updating because a certain reviewer *cough* Elizabeth Zara *cough* is practically bouncing about the place with excitement... XD  
**

**Song for this chapter: Final Destination by Within Temptation

* * *

**

Deep in the forest, the Narnians, led by Peter and Caspian, walked through the dense trees. Trufflehunter looked ahead at the royals and then turned to Trumpkin.

"So, what are they like?" Trufflehunter asked eagerly. Trumpkin grumbled under his breath.

"Complainers...Stubborn as mules in the morning, especially the redhead." Trumpkin muttered somewhat darkly.

"_You're _a redhead." Nikabrik snorted, rolling his eyes. "So I take it you like them then?"

"Well enough." Trumpkin sighed.

At the front of the group, the five royals were deep in their own conversations. Prince Caspian watched in amusement as Ari and Edmund bickered lightly with each other. It was all in good nature though. Edmund would throw a sarcastic comment, and Ari would gleefully throw a quip back immediately. He noticed how Peter kept a careful hand on his sword at all times, watching out for anything that might threaten their family. Susan and Lucy talked quietly, so it was hard for him to hear.

They walked through the dense forest until they saw a clearing up ahead. The light from the sun was nearly blinding as they stepped out of the forest. In the distance, across a giant plain, stood what was known as Aslan's how. It was a giant rock and earth structure that towered above everything around it. It had one solitary entrance on the bottom level, and several leading to ledges high above where lookouts could be posted.

Everyone paused for a moment, just taking everything in. Then without a backwards glance, Ari raced into the sunlight, flinging her head back. Susan and Lucy soon followed her, dancing in the sunlight, having a carefree moments, and for once being the teenage girls that they were. Edmund ran forward and grabbed Ari by the waist, twirling her around so that her black dress flew out around her. They fell into the grass laughing like idiots. Ari smiled lovingly at Edmund before she stood up.

Everyone looked back over at the monument and began a slow walk towards it. As they neared, they could make out Centaurs standing on either side of the entrance. They had their swords raised in a silent salute. Caspian slowed and let the kings and queens of old go first. Lucy smiled at a young centaur who was holding his sword too low. The centaur on his right pushed the sword up and smiled down at the royals.

They entered the how and saw hundreds of Narnian soldiers hard at work making weapons. Torches lit the chamber. The smell of sweat, hot metal, and smoldering ashes filled the air. Ari blanched and raced to the nearest barrel, spewing what little breakfast she had earlier that day. Edmund rushed over to her, and held her hair back as she vomited the contents of her stomach. Susan and Lucy sent concerned looks at the redhead.

Wiping her face on her sleeve, Ari grimaced. "I'm fine."

"No you're not." Edmund insisted.

"Ed, don't worry about me. You know I'm prone to getting sick, as are you." Ari said, rolling her eyes.

"Fine. If I get sick, I'm blaming you." Edmund joked, wrapping an arm around her. They walked over to the rest of the group where Caspian was telling them about the forges.

"It may not be what you are used to, but it is defensible." Caspian said, referring to the How.

"Peter, you may want to see this." Susan said from down a corridor. The Pevensies, each carrying torches, walked over to where Susan was. She held up her torch to the wall, illuminating several carvings. Each of them was a picture of something from during their reign during the golden age. There was one of all five of them riding horses across the open fields.

"It's us." Susan said, pressing her fingers to a carving of herself.

"What is this place?" Lucy asked Caspian.

"You mean you don't know?" Caspian said. When no one made to speak, he picked a torch off of the wall and led them down the dark tunnel. At the end, he lit a fire in a small pit, and it spread around the room, revealing carvings of Narnians and Aslan...and the cracked Stone Table. Lucy let out a gasp. Lucy looked at the large carving of Aslan on the furthest wall and walked towards it slowly. She turned back to her siblings and Caspian.

"He must know what he's doing."

"I think it's up to us now." Peter said coldly, resentment clear in his voice. Lucy frowned and looked back to the carving of Aslan.

=XxX=

Three hours and a good meal later, Ari and Edmund sat on one of the ledges overlooking the field. Ari was quiet, which was strange for her. Edmund didn't bother her, because he knew that when she had something on her mind that it would take only time for her to reveal it. She sighed and snuggled close to Edmund.

"Edmund, do you think it's safe to go for a short ride?" Ari asked after several minutes as she looked longingly into the distance. "It's been too long since I've ridden, and I _know _you're dying to get back into the saddle."

"I suppose we could go for a just a little while." Edmund said, smiling at the thought of being able to ride a horse again. "I'll go ask Caspian if he has a horse somewhere that we can use."

Fifteen minutes after Edmund had set out searching for a horse, the two set out on a ride across the open field. They rode into the woods just enough so that they could still see the How through the trees. Edmund slowed the horse down to a walk. Ari slid off the horse and went to sit down on the root of a nearby tree that was very large.

"I miss it, don't you?" She asked.

"Miss how things were before we went back to England?" He asked. "Yes."

"I miss not having to hide anything."

"Oh, don't say that. You know Narnia had plenty of secrets." Edmund joked, poking her in the ribs.

"Plenty of secrets that had to be _kept _as secrets." Ari said, sighing. "And it was _our _job." Then she fell silent. Edmund looked off into the trees.

"Ari, you have something on your mind. Spit it out."

"Edmund, I brought you out here to tell you something." Then she looked around, as if the trees would hear her. Then she leaned in and whispered something barely audible into his ear. Edmund's eyes widened as if from shock. Then Ari's eyes widened as well, but at something in the distance behind Edmund.

"Down!" She screamed, pushing Edmund's head down just as an arrow whizzed by, barely missing them.

"No!" Edmund yelled as the first soldier lunged at his wife. She drew her knife and stabbed, causing blood to spurt from the now dead soldier's neck. They were completely surrounded in merely seconds.

Edmund drew his sword in a quick, fluid motion, and began slashing and hacking away at the Telmarine solders. There were far too many for only two people to handle alone, and the pair were tiring quickly. As soon as one was finished off, another _two _seemed to pop out of nowhere.

Edmund was on autopilot, sinking into the familiar feeling of being in combat. Behind him, Ari screamed in pain as her arm was slashed open by a sword that she didn't have time to avoid. The knife flew from her hand and it stuck into the neck of a soldier that was about to swing his sword at Edmund's neck. He didn't even see the attack coming. She ran forward and grabbed the knife, but she was too slow. A soldier on horseback grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her up onto his horse. She let out a scream and began to struggle, kicking and flailing her arms wildly.

Edmund's concentration broke as he heard her bloodcurdling scream just before she lost consciousness as she was hit over the head with the butt of the soldier's sword. He barely had time to blink before he was sent barreling back as he was kicked in the chest and into a tree. The rough bark scraped at his face and left a gash on the left side. He sent a half-crazed look at Ari's limp body hanging off of the horse as the soldier rode into the woods. He saw another flash of her hair and then she was out of sight. The rest of the soldiers disregarded him and rode after the one with Ariana. That was the last thing he remembered before he collapsed and fell to the ground with a thud. Out of sorrow, or out of exhaustion he did not know.

When Edmund woke again his head throbbed in pain. Ari was gone. In her place was a note. A _ransom _note. Many thoughts flashed through his mind, but by far the strongest were _Why her? Why Now? Why not _me_? _He nearly flew into a blinding rage. His eyes stung with tears that threatened to spill over and the fury filling him. As soon as he was absolutely sure that his legs could carry him, he shakily stood up and moved as fast as he could towards Aslan's How.

* * *

**Author's Note: So... She's gone. But why? And what did she tell him? What is Edmund going to do about it? Find out in the next chapter! :D (Oh, just to let you know, there is going to be a MAJOR cliffhanger at the end of the next chapter...)**


	12. Chapter 12: A Broken Man

**Author's Note: Yeah, so I know I'm evil because of the cliffhanger in the last chapter, but...they get worse. :) I'm so evil! Anyways, this chapter is a little bit...dramatic. Hopefully you'll like it. :) There's going to be a MAJOR cliffhanger in this chapter... You'll probably hate me for it, but...it has to be that way for my story line to work.**

**Once again, I want to thank everyone that has reviewed! :D You guys are wonderful. :) Thanks for sticking with me through the last story, and through what I have posted of this one as well. You guys are awesome! :D **

**Another thing that made me decide to post early, was that I now have 100 reviews! :D WOO! Anyways, go ahead and read!  
**

**Song for this chapter: I'm Not Alright by Sanctus Real

* * *

**

Edmund pushed his legs to move faster than they ever had before. Faster than in battle, faster than when running from assassins. He ignored the pain in his head and pushed himself further. The How loomed up at him in the distance. He knew he had to get help, and fast. Who knows what they could be doing to her!

He was running out of breath, but he wasn't concerned about himself at that moment. The minute his feet entered the How, he slowed down, but only a little. Just enough so that he would have time to move out of the way and dodge Narnians who were walking around. Some gave him strange glances at the fearful look in his eyes, but he didn't care. He reached the Stone Table within minutes.

"Edmund! Where in Aslan's name have you been?" Lucy asked as he raced towards the Stone Table.

"We were ambushed." Edmund said, out of breath as he finally stopped. "They took her! They took Ari!"

He face was full of anguish. Lucy knew that look all too well. He had that same haunted look in his eyes when Ari had spent nearly four months in a coma. He was a wreck that whole time, and he blamed himself. They thought she would never wake up. Just as Edmund's hope was about to slip away from him, she stirred for the first time in three and a half months. She didn't wake up, but she moved. That was enough to bring him back from the dead. It wasn't another two weeks before she was fully awake, but she did wake from unconsciousness long enough to say a few sentences. The first thing she had done when she was able to was tell him to go and bathe because he smelled like a dead animal. This gave Edmund comfort that she was still her same witty, sarcastic self. He did, in fact, smell like a dead animal. He hadn't taken much care of himself while she was unconscious. He rarely slept for more than two hours at a time, and ate next to nothing. He hadn't shaved in over a week, and hadn't bathed in longer. He rarely left her side, and he was deteriorating right before his sibling's eyes. Lucy never wanted to see him like that again.

Yet, here he was with that same petrified look in his eyes, like an animal that was cornered and had nowhere to go. She saw how his shoulders were hunched over in defeat, how his jaw was set in what might have been anger, or the determination to hold back tears. Edmund wasn't one to show vulnerability around anyone but his siblings, and even then very rarely. She hated seeing him like this.

"Who took her?" Lucy asked, finally speaking.

"The Telmarines!" He burst out as he started pacing the room. "Why didn't they take _me_?" He shouted at no one.

"Edmund, calm down!" Lucy shrieked as he started to hyperventilate.

"Don't tell me to calm down when my _wife _is out there with Aslan knows what happening to her!" Edmund screamed, his voice cracking. Lucy noticed a few tears slip out of the corners of his eyes before they disappeared as he wiped his sleeve across his face.

"We'll get her back." Lucy vowed.

"How?" Edmund shouted, his voice an octave higher than it normally was.

"I don't know." She sighed, wrapping her arms around her brother. "She's strong. She's a survivor. We'll get her back."

For the first time in many years, Edmund let himself break down and cry. Lucy held onto him for comfort, although it wasn't much, as the sobs wracked his slim frame. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground. Lucy knew that it would be best to just leave him, although she didn't want to. Edmund hated looking weak, and this was a time that he just needed to be by himself. He backed up to the Stone Table and buried his head in his hands and just cried. He cried and cried until he had run out of tears to shed, and even then dry sobs shook his thin frame. It felt like he had been hit repeatedly in the chest by a car running at full speed. Like he was under a lake of dark water and couldn't swim to the surface before he would drown. He was suffocating, and there was nothing anyone could do to save him. The battle-hardened war hero was broken, and this time it was possibly beyond repair.

Later that day, Peter stood in front of the Narnians in the Stone Table room. Edmund had composed himself since earlier today, but he was struggling to keep himself together. You could see it in his eyes and the way he sat, like he was ready to bolt and head towards the Telmarine castle all by himself to take on the entire army just to get back to her. Lucy sat near him for moral support.

"It's only a matter of time." Peter said to the Narnian troops. "Miraz' men and war machines are on their way. That means those same men aren't protecting his castle."

"What do you propose we do, sire?" Reepicheep asked. Caspian and Peter both began to speak at the same time. Peter looked at Caspian, who motioned for him to continue.

"Our only hope is to strike them before they strike us." Peter said.

"That's crazy!" Caspian burst out without a pause. "No one has _ever _taken that castle!"

"There's always a first time." Peter countered.

"We'll have the element of surprise." Trumpkin put in.

"But we have the advantage _here_!" Caspian said.

"If we dig in, we could probably hold them off indefinitely." Susan said, agreeing with Caspian.

"I, for one, feel safer underground." Said Trufflehunter.

"Look," Peter said to Caspian. "It's not that I don't appreciate what you've done, but lets face it. This isn't a fortress. It's a tomb."

"Yes, and if the Telmarines are smart, they'll just starve us out." Edmund said, finally speaking.

"We could collect nuts!" Pattertwig the squirrel said excitedly.

"Oh yes!" Reepicheep said sarcastically. "And throw them at the Telmarines! Shut up." Reepicheep then turned to Peter. "I think you know where I stand on this, sire."

"If I can get your troops in, can you handle the guards?" Peter asked Glenstorm.

"Or die trying, my liege." Said the centaur.

"That's what I'm worried about." Lucy said, voicing her thoughts for the first time since they all gathered.

"I'm sorry?" Peter asked for clarification.

"Well, you're all acting like there's only two options." She said. "Dying here, or dying there."

"I'm not sure you've really been listening, Lu. We-" Peter began.

"No, _you're _not listening!" She said, raising her voice. Everyone looked at her in shock because she never raised her voice unless she was very angry. "Have you forgotten who _really _defeated the White Witch, Peter?" She snapped at him.

"I think we've waited for Aslan long enough." Peter said coldly, closing any further argument she had. Everyone filed out of the room after a few more minutes of planning, but Peter asked Edmund to stay behind.

"I don't want you going tonight." Peter said. Edmund's eyes widened and then filled with anger.

"Why not?" Edmund shouted, jumping to his feet. "Ari's there!"

"Exactly." Peter said.

"Peter, you don't understand why I have to go after her!" He yelled as his hands clenched into fists as he tried to rein in his anger.

"I understand perfectly why you want to go! You love her!" Peter shouted. "Love makes people do stupid and reckless things. I'm not going to let you jeopardize this mission because she's there. Ari would understand."

"It's not the same!" Edmund said, running a shaking hand through his hair.

"How is this any different from the time we were taken by pirates and held hostage?" Peter fumed.

"For starters, we were _all _there that time." Edmund said. He opened his mouth to say something else.

"You're staying." Peter said, cutting his brother off. "No exceptions."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it." Peter said coldly.

Edmund smashed his fist into the dirt wall hand enough that Peter flinched just at the sound of it. Edmund didn't even feel the pain that shot up his arm when his clenched fist hit the wall for a second time. He was shaking with fury. He slid to the ground against the wall and put his head in his hands. A choked sob left him before he looked up at Peter with a look so anguished that Peter wanted to run away and hid under a rock. Edmund then let out another sob and screamed three words at his brother as the tears started to flow again.

"Peter, she's pregnant!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the cliffhanger! So, you see what Ari was telling Edmund in the forest. You also see how much Edmund cares about her. This chapter was a very emotional one to write, and there is only more emotion to come from both Ari and Edmund... Hey, things are getting to be a bumpy ride now. Leave a smiley face if you liked it! Preferably with a few comments going on! :D**


	13. Chapter 13: Memories and Nightmares

**Author's Note: Here's the new chapter! I'm not _that _evil. I hope you guys like this chapter! There's more background on _why _Ari was in a coma for almost four months, and a couple of other things happen. It was a little difficult to write, and you'll see why.. Overall, I don't think I did too terrible of a job. None of this chapter has dialog from the movie. Just what I made up. :) I'm so proud of myself! **

**Song for this chapter: Never Too Late by Three Days Grace

* * *

**

"Peter, she's pregnant!" Edmund screamed at his brother. Edmund let out another sound that was bordering on choking, wailing, and Peter's face was marred with shock.

"She's..._what_?" Peter whispered, as if he didn't hear correctly. Edmund stared at him.

"She's pregnant, as in she's going to be a mother and I'm going to be a father." Edmund snapped, irritation clear in his voice.

"But...I thought..._How_?" Peter stuttered, his brain not forming words correctly.

"I'm sure you don't want me to go into detail there." Edmund said, gaining a bit of his sarcasm back, but it still didn't reach his eyes. Peter barely held back a shudder at the thought of Ari and his brother together.

"More importantly, _when_?" Peter demanded. Edmund's cheeks flushed scarlet, contrasting dramatically with his pale skin.

"Christmas break when the rest of you were all in town with mum and dad." Edmund mumbled. He looked down at his hands. "I don't want what happened in the Golden Age to happen here. I _have _to get her out of there. I can't lose her."

Edmund's voice broke again at the end of the sentence, showing Peter just _how _much he loved her. He loved her more than life itself, and he would do anything in the world to keep her safe. Peter's thoughts flipped back to the Golden Age of their reign. Edmund and Ari had been married for almost two years when Ari announced that she was pregnant. Seven months later she gave birth to a baby girl who they named Caroline. She and Edmund had been so happy, until one day they woke up to find her tiny body cold and lifeless in her crib. They were both crushed. Neither one of them smiled again until almost a year and a half later. Not long after they began to be themselves once more, Ari fell pregnant again. This time she miscarried.

She sank into a deep depression that not even Edmund could bring her out of. She was like a walking zombie. She had this ghostly appearance to her. Her eyes were frozen as if they were in a state of shock. She stopped taking care of herself and was almost to the point of having people force feed her to eat. No one could get her to laugh, smile, or even spit out a sarcastic comment. She distanced herself from everyone, especially Edmund. Eventually, the depression got to be too much and she tried to take her own life. That was when she was put into a coma for nearly four months. Lucy's cordial wouldn't work to bring her out of it, and that sent Edmund into a blind panic. He rarely left her side during those long months.

When she awoke and saw Edmund's distraught appearance, something inside her snapped. She didn't take the time to consider that It was the same for Edmund. If one of them was hurting, the other was just as bad. She knew that she had to carry on, and gradually got back to her normal self, but you could still see the hidden pain in her eyes if you looked close enough. She and Edmund eventually gave up on having children, even though they wanted a child of their own more than anything in the world.

"Fine. But stick to your post." Peter eventually said, causing Edmund's eyes to regain some of their former spark. "If all goes as planned, you won't even have to worry about getting her back."

"Thank you." Edmund said, grabbing his brother in a fierce hug. Peter tensed up at first but then hugged him back. Edmund smiled wearily and nodded his thanks.

"I'd rather this not get to Susan and Lucy. You know how they'll react. _Please _keep this between us, at least until we have her back." Edmund begged his brother earnestly.

"My lips are sealed." Peter said. Edmund thanked him and then left the room.

At the Telmarine castle, Ari was just waking up. She groaned at the splitting pain in her head. She reached up and felt a bandage over it. She tried to rip it off but her hands were too weak still.

"Take it easy." Said a gentle voice from somewhere in the shadows. It was then that she realized that she must be in the dungeon somewhere. The smell of sweat and bodily fluids filled her nostrils and before she could blink she could feel today's lunch coming back up her throat. She leaned over and retched what was left of her food onto the dirty hay on the ground. After the nausea was gone, she sighed and wiped her face on her sleeve.

"You'll get used to the smell." The voice said. When she realized that she was sharing a cell she backed up into a defensive crouch, even though she knew that she probably didn't stand a chance.

"Who's there?" She snarled, not trusting whoever it was. An old man's bearded face came out of the shadows and she relaxed. He had to be harmless. But then, why would he be in the dungeon? She tensed up again, adrenaline already coursing through her veins as she flew into defensive mode, ready to do anything possible to protect the life of her child.

"My name is Cornelius." Said the old man. When she didn't respond, he continued. "I used to be a professor here in the castle."

"I'm Ariana." She said quietly, sinking back into the darkness to conceal herself. "I was kidnapped and brought here against my will."

"I too was brought here against my will." Cornelius answered. "But I was imprisoned because of my beliefs."

"I was taken because of who I am." Ariana responded, her voice still soft. She saw the old man's eyes widen and practically glow with excitement.

"You are one of the great Queens from the Golden Age." He said. It wasn't a question. Ari sighed.

"I wouldn't say that I was great. That was Susan and Lucy. I'm just a queen by marriage." Ari replied.

"That doesn't make you any less great." Cornelius said. "I have heard stories about you. About your family. Never in all of my life did I imagine that I would ever meet anyone of such importance to Narnian history."

Ari sighed again and didn't reply to the man. He took her silence as a notice that she wanted to be left alone and he didn't speak to her again.

Memories flashed behind her eyes as she remembered other times when she had been in prisons such as this. Her and Edmund both. There had been multiple times that their missions had gone awry and they had run into the wrong people. They always managed to escape though. She wracked her brain to come up with a plan of escape, but nothing came to mind. As she thought about it, it was usually Edmund who had come up with the plans. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear the iron door opening, nor did she hear the heavy footsteps coming towards her. She did however feel it when a sharp slap landed on her cheek. She spit a bit of blood from her mouth and looked up, into the eyes of none other than Miraz himself. He looked at her coldly.

"I think it's time we had a little chat."

* * *

**Author's Note: This chapter is just a bit shorter than normal, but... I hope you liked it! The next chapter is the raid on the castle... Plus, a little bit more...emotional bits. I seriously cried when I wrote one of the scenes... But that's what I was aiming for, so I guess if I cried, you guys might feel the character's pain too... Eh.. maybe I just get too attached to them! XD Leave a smiley face!**


	14. Chapter 14: The Raid Begins

**Author's Note: Here is the long awaited "Raid" scene. :) I loved this scene in the movie, except the very ending. Mostly because it showed how awesome Ed is with a torch. ;) But, anyways... It took me two days to finish writing this chapter. It was a bit emotional to write, but the next one was even more emotional... In case you haven't noticed by now, I have the tendency to get _very _attached to my characters! XD Hopefully, I did a good job on this chapter. Enough of my rambling. On to the story! :D**

**Song for this chapter: It's All Over by Three Days Grace

* * *

**

In the distance, Edmund could make out the outline of the dark Telmarine castle in the shadows. He was flying high in the night air on the back of a griffin. He clutched his electric torch tightly in his hand. The griffin flew over and landed on the top of a high tower, out of sight of a guard who stood watch below. The griffin took flight again, and snatched the sentry off of the ground and pulled him into the air. Edmund dropped into a low crouch, looking around for a moment before he straightened up.

Edmund walked over to the edge of the tower and flicked on his torch. He made a pattern with it to signal the others. Peter, Susan, and Caspian, all carried by griffins, swooped through the air towards the castle. They flew silently through the air like ghosts. Caspian dropped low and swung his sword at a guard who fell to the ground with a thud. His first kill. Edmund waved his torch to point to the next guard, but somewhere down below he was spotted. The Telmarine soldier who saw him lifted his crossbow to aim, but before his finger even got to the trigger an arrow pierced his neck, killing him instantly. Susan nodded in satisfaction as she and Peter landed. Peter swung his sword at another Telmarine soldier's turned back, taking him down without a sound.

Down below in the main courtyard, Asterius the Minotaur crept along. He turned a corner and a soldier stood right in front of him. Asterius simply raised his finger to his lips.

"Shh..." He said to the soldier, who gave him a very confused look. Behind him, Nikabrik his the soldier over the head with the but of his sword. The man fell to the ground without so much as a sound.

Led by Reepicheep, the mice climbed out from underground. They scurried to the gate, easily fitting through the bars. They crawled across a rope and entered the castle. They silently made their way through the corridors, evading the gazes of many guards. They slipped into a room and Reepicheep paused, sniffing the air. He looked around the corner and saw a cat asleep by a crackling fire. He drew his sword and gave a sinister grin.

On the other side of the castle, Peter, Susan, and Caspian slipped down a rope to a window with a small ledge. Caspian tapped on the glass quietly.

"Professor?" He whispered. When there was no answer he pushed open the window. He climbed through the window into Cornelius' study. Peter and Susan quietly followed. Caspian's eyes scanned the room until they landed on a pair of glasses laying on the table.

"I have to find him." Caspian said as soon as his eyes saw the forgotten glasses.

"You don't have time." Peter whispered harshly. "You have to get to the gatehouse."

"You wouldn't even be here if it hadn't been for him." Caspian snapped irritatedly. "Neither would I."

"We can take care of Miraz." Susan said, sharing a long glance with Peter.

"And I can still get to the gatehouse in time." Caspian said. Without waiting for a reply he raced out of the room.

On the other side of the castle, Reepicheep waited patiently as a Telmarine soldier walked into the room. The soldier's eyes landed on the cat, who was now tied and bound. He looked around the room suspiciously. Reepicheep dropped down as the soldier turned, drawing his small sword deadly quick. The soldier's eyes widened and Reepicheep spoke.

"Yes, I know. I'm a mouse." He said these words while he slashed forward. Blood spurted from the soldier's neck as he fell to the ground with a thud. Another soldier behind him was knocked to the ground by five mice. After he was also dead, the mice climbed onto each others' backs and opened the door. Trumpkin entered and without hesitation shot an arrow into one of the weak parts in the armor of a Telmarine soldier that the mice had not noticed.

"Ah, we were expecting someone, you know, taller." Reepicheep said as he sheathed his rapier.

"You're one to talk." Trumpkin said as he shut the door.

"Is that supposed to be irony?" Reepicheep asked as he shut the door. Trumpkin just rolled his eyes.

Down into the deep parts of the castle, Caspian sneaked around corners, avoiding the watchful glances of the night guards. One that spotted him didn't even have time to blink before Caspian ran him through. He tracked down the cell that held his professor and entered. The elderly man was chained to the floor by a shackle that went around his ankle. Caspian shook him.

"Five more minutes?" He said jokingly. The old man's eyes widened when he realized that Caspian was back.

"What are you doing here?" Cornelius growled angrily. "I didn't help you to escape just so you could come back and get yourself captured again! You must go before Miraz learns that you are here."

"He'll learn soon enough." Caspian said, breaking the lock on his professor's ankle. "We're giving him your cell."

"_Don't _underestimate Miraz as your father did." The old man said urgently.

"What are you talking about?" Caspian said, but he already knew. He only needed to hear it for his own ears.

"I'm sorry." Cornelius said. And then Caspian was gone.

"Take the girl with you!" Cornelius called to the young prince, but he was long gone.

"Where is she?" Asked a new voice. He turned around to see Edmund. The look in his eyes was wild.

"Down there." Cornelius said, pointing to a cell at the end of the long row of iron bars. "But I warn you. You won't-"

He never got to finish he sentence because Edmund was already running towards the cell. He opened the door and the air left his lungs in a rush, like someone was crushing him. He couldn't breathe, and for a moment he didn't want to. He was frozen. He couldn't move. He wanted to die.

She looked like hell, and probably felt like it too. Someone had chopped off her long locks of hair. It now only came to just below her ears and was uneven all over. With the way she was sitting, he could see that she had been clearly whipped. The back of her dress was in shreds and he could see blood oozing out of the many shallow cuts. Her breathing was ragged, and the way she was holding her side she probably had at least two broken ribs. Her left ankle was bent in an unnatural position. Her face and arms were covered with black and purple bruises, so many that you couldn't even tell the natural color of her skin. He guessed that it wasn't just her face and arms that were painted with bruises. Edmund noticed two distinct bruises that were obviously older than the others, because of their strange yellowish color that bruises got when they were fading. One was on her right cheek, and the other was on her left arm. They were hand prints.

Edmund found the anger bubbling up in him and it brought him back to reality. She had been brutally tortured, probably for information. He took a step forward and her head jerked to the side.

"Who's there?" She rasped. Her voice broken and shallow. Scared. Hollow. It was then that Edmund got a better look at her face. He realized something with dread. She couldn't see him.

* * *

**Author's note: So... Yeah... I had to! I didn't want to make it too brutal, so I just didn't put in the scene where she was beaten.. I may do that later... So, just tell me what you think of it! Don't hate me!**


	15. Chapter 15: The Raid Continues

**Author's Note: Here's fifteen! It's been a bumpy ride so far, and it's not about to stop right now. :) Don't worry... They'll get a happy ending. I can't stand tragic endings... It's going to be sad, but that's the way it has to be for my plot to work... I've got another story planned as a spin off of this one. :) Don't worry. There will be a love interest for Peter this time! :D **

**And I can't believe that it's already over 20,000 words! :D I don't think I had that many words in 15 chapters on my last story... I'm guessing that this is a good thing. XD **

**Thanks for all of the reviews guys! Each and every one of them makes me smile. :) Thanks for staying with me through all of the ups and downs. :) I'm sorry for all of the cliffhangers... But, I have my evil moments. Here's the second part of the raid! :D**

**And to FeatherDaydreamer, I took your suggestion and went back and edited this chapter. :) I have to say that I like it better this way... Thank you so much for the suggestion! :) I take all of my reviews to heart, except for flames, and yours wasn't harsh at all. In fact, I LOVE it when my reviewers point out things that could have been done better. I hope you like this version better! :D**

**Songs for this chapter: Life Starts Now by Three Days Grace

* * *

**

Edmund saw that her face was bruised so badly that her eyes were swollen shut. She couldn't see out of them if she wanted to. He needed to get her to Lucy, and as fast as he could.

"Oh, Ari..." He breathed, going to scoop her off of the ground. She didn't have a chain around her ankle. They obviously didn't think she was going anywhere. He needed to get back to his post, so he carried here, being careful not to jostle her too much. She groaned and winced at the pain, but Edmund kept going. Waiting would only have prolonged her pain. He had to get her to the griffin stationed at the tallest tower. If he avoided the guards, he would be back at his post in ten minutes. He set her up in a place where she would be hidden from anyone.

He walked to the edge of the tower and looked over to signal the griffin, but he was no where to be found. He cursed under his breath as he realized that there was no way that Ari was going to be taken back to the How immediately. He kicked the wall in frustration before he sighed and looked back to her. She looked so small and helpless, not at all the woman he was in love with. She was only a shell of what she had been just a few days ago. He double-checked from all angles to make sure that she was hidden from all views before he went back to his post.

Meanwhile, a sleeping Miraz was jolted from his sleep as he felt cold steel on his throat. His eyes flew open and stared into the face of his nephew. Instead of being alarmed, he chuckled.

"Thank goodness...you're safe." He said, his voice void of any emotion.

"Get up." Caspian snapped, not caring if he woke up his aunt. She stirred and sat up as Miraz climbed out of bed.

"Caspian?" She asked drowsily.

"Stay where you are." Caspian said dangerously.

"What are you doing?" Prunaprismia said, her voice rising an octave.

"I think that part would be obvious." Caspian snapped angrily. His aunt looked taken aback at Caspian's aggressiveness.

"You know, some might consider this inappropriate behavior." Miraz said sardonically. Caspian pressed the sword harder against his uncle's neck.

"That doesn't seem to have stopped _you_." He snarled.

"But you are not like me, are you?" Miraz sneered, his lip curling up. "It's depressing. The first time that you ever shown even an ounce of backbone and it is such a waste."

"Put the sword down, Caspian." Prunaprismia said, aiming a crossbow that had been hung over the bed at Caspian. She had a look of sadness in her eyes. "I don't want to do this."

"We don't want you to either!" Shouted a female voice as the door burst open. Susan had an arrow aimed at Caspian's aunt, and Peter had his sword drawn. Miraz sighed.

"This used to be a private room, you know." He said. Peter's nostrils flared at the sight of Caspian.

"Caspian, what are you doing?" Peter shouted, his hand clenching into a fist around the hilt of his sword. "You're supposed to be at the gatehouse!"

"No!" Caspian screamed, his voice cracking. "Tonight, for once I want the truth." He took a breath and stared into his uncle's black eyes. "Did you kill my father?"

"Now we get to it." Miraz said, his eyes dancing with glee. Prunaprismia lowered her crossbow and looked at her husband in astonishment.

"You told me that your brother died in his sleep." She said, her voice soft and meek, but also accusing.

"That was more or less true." Miraz said. Caspian pressed the sword to his uncle's neck, drawing a trickle of blood. He took a few steps forward, and Miraz was forced back to stand against a window.

"Did you kill my father?" Caspian asked again, his voice hard.

"Caspian, this won't make anything better." Susan reasoned, noticing the bloodthirsty look in his eyes. A look she recognized all too well from her two brothers during a battle, and sometimes from Ari. It made her shudder involuntarily.

"We Telmarines would have _nothing _if we hadn't taken it." Miraz said, looking at Caspian. "Your father knew that as well as anyone."

"How could you?" Prunaprismia whispered, lowering the crossbow even more.

"For the same reason that you will pull that trigger!" Miraz snapped at her. He took a step forward, causing Caspian to step back. Susan raised her bow again.

"Stop! Stay right there!" She shouted, aiming an arrow right at Miraz' heart.

"For our son!" Miraz shouted. He turned to his wife. "You must choose. Do you want our child to be king, or do you want him to be like Caspian here. Fatherless!"

Prunaprismia froze before she let out a scream. "No!" Her finger pressed down on the trigger, launching an arrow into Caspian's shoulder. In that split second, Miraz was gone. Caspian pulled out the spike from his shoulder and blood stained his white shirt. Susan tore a piece of cloth off of the bedsheets while Peter restrained Prunaprismia. She tied it around the wound to stop the blood flow. The three teenagers looked at each other a knew that if this mission was to be successful, they had to hurry and get their troops in. It wouldn't take long for Miraz to alert the guards.

Up in a tower, Edmund was idly twirling his electric torch. He was jumpy with nervousness. His thoughts flashed back to his wife, and how her body had been brutally beaten. It was all he could do to restrain himself from going back to Ari. Peter had been right, and he hated to admit it. Saying that he wouldn't abandon his post was one thing. Actually doing it was another thing entirely. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach as he thought about what that meant for their child.

In that second of lost concentration, the silver torch slipped through his fingers and fell. He reached out his hand to grab it, but it was already beyond his grasp. He clenched his teeth as a soldier below picked it up, examining it. Suddenly, the bright light flicked on. Edmund cursed under his breath and raced through the door and down the stairs.

He watched from a low window in the tower. As soon as he had the chance, he leaped down onto the back of the soldier, just as the bells started to sound. That was when everything began to go wrong.

* * *

**Author's Note: There we go! :) Ari will live, but... Yeah... Anyways, sorry for the sucky ending. It's not the best in the world. Not much of a cliffhanger this time! You lucky people. :) It's a little shorter than I normally do, and the faster you guys review, the faster I will update. :) So, leave a smiley face or something, please! :)**

**And as for my crying in this chapter, I did when I first wrote it, but it seemed too...brutal for my style, so I cut it out. It just wasn't...me, I guess you could say. **


	16. Chapter 16: All Wrong

**Author's Note: Here's the long awaited chapter sixteen! :) This is the rest of the "raid" scene... I thought that there needed to be a reason for WHY Edmund was a little off his game. Normally, he wouldn't have made some of the mistakes that he made, like dropping the torch, and getting trapped up in that tower, and dropping his sword... He's smarter than that... So, I thought, there had to be something on his mind. :) I used it for my advantage... You'll see more in this chapter. The next chapter is the scene where they get back, and there is quite a bit of...drama in it. XD**

**Song for this chapter: Get Out Alive by Three Days Grace

* * *

**

Bells sounded, reverberating off of the stone walls of the castle. All over, soldiers were waking up, and everyone was aware that something was wrong. The soldiers raced from their beds to suit up in armor and grab their weapons. It would be mere minutes before the castle was swarmed with awake and alert guards. Peter, Susan, and Caspian raced through the halls. Peter turned sharply on his heel and barreled down a corridor in a different direction.

"Peter!" Susan called, trying to make him stop.

"Our troops are just outside!" Peter called back, not even stopping to look back at her. She sighed and raced after him, Caspian hot on her heels. They ran through the courtyard and Peter drew his sword, killing two Telmarine soldiers who were running toward them.

"Now, Ed!" Peter shouted so his brother could hear. "Signal the troops!"

"I'm a bit busy now, Pete!" Edmund shouted back. He voice was strained as he grappled with the Telmarine soldier that had previously picked up his electric torch. He struggled to keep the man's blade away from his neck, and while pushing the man back, dropped his sword. It fell to the ground with a clang. He ducked as the soldier swung, narrowly missing his head. It was so close that he felt the hair on his head part from the wind it created. He blindly searched on the ground for something to use as a weapon. His hand landed on his electric torch and he swung upward, knocking the soldier's head back. He immediately swung again for good measure, knocking the man's head to the side. He dropped into a heap on the ground at Edmund's feet. The man wasn't dead, but he wouldn't be moving around any time soon. Edmund pushed the button to turn on the torch to turn on the light, but nothing happened. Edmund tried again. Nothing. He cursed under his breath while below Peter tried to open the gate.

"Peter!" Susan shrieked. "It's too late! We _have _to call this off while we still have the chance!"

"No!" Peter snapped. "I can still do this. Help me!" Susan sighed and she and Caspian began to help Peter turn the wheel that would open the gate.

"Just who are you doing this for, Peter?" She asked, shooting her brother a pointed look. He didn't respond.

They continued turning the wheel, raising the gate. Up top, Edmund shook his torch, trying to get it to work. Inside, Trumpkin and the mice turned a crank that lowered the drawbridge. Outside, Glenstorm and the army grew restless. Edmund hit the torch over his hand, and it flickered to life. He grinned and began flashing it towards the Narnians. Glenstorm shouted and reared up on his hind legs. The Narnians charged toward the Telmarine Castle. Tyrus used his horns to smash through the first gate. The Narnians drove past Peter, Susan, and Caspian. The three drew their weapons as they turned and ran straight into the heat of the battle.

"For Narnia!" Peter shouted as he ran. Susan and Edmund both noticed with a pang of sadness that he didn't use his signature _And for Aslan _after. But there was no time to contemplate this. It was war, and they had to save alive.

Edmund expertly climbed onto the roof of one of the balconies and watched the battle unfolding down below with hawk-eyes. Fauns leaped and jumped over the heads of the soldiers, dancing out of reach. Susan shot one of her arrows, killing a soldier, and then stabbed and threw one when two Telmarines got too close and there wasn't time to aim and shoot. He looked down when he heard footsteps below and saw a Telmarine soldier with a crossbow aimed straight at Peter. His eyes narrowed, and before he even had time to think, he launched himself up and slid down the roof. His feet hit the archer, sending him careening over the edge of the balcony with a scream, and down to his death. Peter turned around and saw the soldier hit the ground with a loud thud. He looked up and nodded his thanks to his brother. Then his eyes widened.

"Ed!" He shouted in warning. Edmund turned to the side and saw at least a dozen Telmarine soldiers, all armed with crossbows aimed directly at him. He rolled to the side and dove into an open doorway. He kicked it closed just as the arrows were launched at him. He could see the points of the spikes poking through the wooden door. He took a deep breath and moved as quickly as he could up the stairs, out of the reach of the soldiers that were most likely going to follow him.

On a balcony up above the battle, Miraz walked out and watched the fighting. Peter looked up and locked eyes with him for a split second. He slashed and killed a Telmarine soldier nearby and nodded at Tyrus. The two of them fought through the commotion and towards the stairs that would take them to Miraz. As soon as Tyrus was close enough, he jumped and clung onto the balcony where Miraz was. He raised his weapon. Just then, an arrow pierced him in the shoulder, making him lose his grip on his weapon. Miraz turned around to see Glozelle holding a crossbow. He nodded his approval before he walked over and pushed Tyrus over the edge of the balcony. Peter watched, wide-eyed, as the satyr fell to the ground.

"Get that gate closed." Miraz ordered Glozelle.

"Fall back! Retreat!" Peter called, just as the gate started to fall. Asterius dropped his weapon and raced over to hold it open. The Narnians started running out of the castle. On his way towards the gate, Glenstorm swung Susan up onto his back. She turned back to Peter.

"Caspian!" She called to him. He nodded.

"I'll find him!" Peter promised.

Edmund reached the top of the stairs and found himself in the tower that he had left Ari in. He mentally cursed himself. He slid his torch through the door handle, locking it. He looked around, but the griffin was still nowhere to be found. He picked Ari up and cradled her to him like a child. She was still breathing, but it was very shallow. She wasn't going to last long if he couldn't get her back to Lucy. The soldiers on the other side of the door banged against it, sending splinters around. It wouldn't be long until they broke through. All he could do was wait.

Down below, Caspian and Cornelius emerged from the stables. Caspian held the reigns of an extra horse. He nodded to Peter as they rode by. Peter grabbed on to the reigns and kicked off of the ground. He landed in the saddle and rode as fast as he could to the gate. He and Caspian barely made it through before Asterius collapsed, shutting the gate. Many Narnian soldiers were still trapped inside, and each of them knew what that meant. Peter and Reepicheep were the last to exit. Peter looked back in horror. Glenstorm nodded at one of his sons. The drawbridge started raising. Holding back tears, Peter looked back at the Narnians. He hesitated, then at their calls to flee, he rode away towards the rest of the survivors.

Up top, the door finally broke down, leaving Edmund and Ari completely vulnerable. Three Telmarine soldiers burst through the door with drawn swords. Edmund looked over the edge once more. He gave a small smirk, and then dropped with Ari still in his arms. The soldiers ran and looked over the edge before they hastily backed up as a griffin flew up with Edmund and Ari on his back. They soared over the castle, and Edmund looked sadly down at the bodies that were strewn around the courtyard. He said a silent prayer for the fallen soldiers. Then he told the griffin that they needed to get back to the How, as fast as they could. Ari was fading, and it wouldn't be long till she was out of reach, even with the healing power of Lucy's cordial.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, there you have it... I actually loved this scene in the movie, except for the very end of it. It had so much suspense, and it gave me a lot to work with... I'd say that this is probably one of my best chapters yet. :) I can't wait to see what you guys think of it! Leave a review!**


	17. Chapter 17: The Wake Of Devastation

**Author's Note: I am SOO sorry for the long wait! I've been extremely busy lately, so I haven't really had time to update. :( This chapter has a few emotional scenes in it... So do a lot of the next few chapters. Anyways... I hope to be updating more often now. I plan on devoting a certain part of my day to this story. :)**

**Oh! As most of you know, fanfiction has been jacked up lately. It's been slow on getting emails to me, so if I haven't replied to your reviews, then you know why. ON to the story! :D  
**

**Song for this chapter: Iridescent by Linkin Park**

* * *

Lucy sat on the Stone Table, running her fingers over the design on the glass bottle that held her healing cordial. She knew it would be best to have it handy because there were probably many soldiers that would need her help. She looked up as she heard a horn sounding. She slipped the cordial into the pocket on her belt and ran towards the entrance. She fought back a gasp when she saw what little of the army was still left. They all walked tiredly towards the How. Everyone had dark circles under their eyes. Peter and Caspian led the group back.

"What happened?" She breathed, her voice barely audible.

"Ask _him_." Peter snapped, pointing to Caspian.

"Peter!" Susan snapped. Caspian looked taken aback.

"_Me_?" He asked incredulously. "_You _could have called it off! There was still time!" Caspian shouted.

"No, there wasn't thanks to you." Peter snarled angrily. "If you had just stuck to the plan, those soldiers might still be alive."

"And if you had stayed here like I said, they _definitely _would be!" Caspian retorted, his hand instinctively moving to his sword."

"_You_ called _us_, remember?" Peter sardonically replied.

"My first mistake." Growled Caspian. Neither one of the two noticed that they were attracting attention. Everyone who was outside was staring at the two of them. Everyone around could tell that things were escalating very quickly. Lucy had a hand on her cordial, and another on her dagger just in case.

"No." Peter said simply. "Your first mistake was thinking that you could lead these people."

"Hey!" Caspian yelled as Peter brushed by him. "I am not the one who _abandoned _Narnia!"

"You _invaded_ Narnia! You have no more right to lead Narnia than Miraz does!" Peter shouted back. Caspian ignored him and started walking towards the How. He froze at Peter's next words. "You, him, your father! Narnia's better off without the lot of you!"

In an instant things turned violent. Caspian drew his sword and with a savage yell turned and pointed it at Peter. He had taken things too far. Peter drew his sword at the same time Caspian had, and they clashed in the air. They lowered them when a familiar voice called out.

"Stop it!" Edmund yelled from in the air where he was on the back of the griffin. They swooped down and landed. He dropped lightly to the ground, holding Ari's beaten body in his arms like a baby. Lucy gasped and ran forward. She was already opening her cordial. Susan sucked in a breath as she saw the state that her sister-in-law was in. She too raced forward. She cradled her head in her lap as Lucy tipped the cordial for one drop to fall her Ari's mouth. Her raspy breaths slowed down and turned normal. Even with the cordial it would take some time for her wounds to fully heal. At least it would be quicker now.

Lucy turned and healed Trumpkin who had been laid beside her. Trumpkin opened his eyes grumpily and glared at everyone around him.

"What are you all standing around for?" He snapped. "The Telmarines will be here soon enough."

Everyone immediately set off to prepare for battle. He was right. They didn't have much time. Edmund picked up Ari and carried her inside where she could rest. When he settled her down into a quiet place in the How, he sat with her head in his lap and stoked what was left of her hair. Just yesterday it had been almost down to her waist. Now it fell to her shoulders. The bruises were already beginning to fade. He silently thanked Aslan that Lucy had been given the cordial, otherwise all of them would be dead by now.

It wasn't long until Ari woke up. She looked up at Edmund and broke into tears. She clung to his shirt and sobbed. His arms encircled her and he held her close and he too cried. They both knew that there was no possible way that their child could have survived the brutal beating that Ari had taken. The baby hadn't even stood a chance. It was helpless, like they both felt. Even now they couldn't have what they wanted more than anything else. He rubbed soothing circles on her back and Ari cried herself back to sleep in no time. Edmund held her close, like at any second she would fade from his arms. He sighed and looked at her sleeping face. It looked so much more peaceful than it had before.

He didn't know what he would do if she tried to end her life again, and this time succeeded. He would probably follow her to death. He knew back then that he wouldn't be able to survive without her. He loved her more than his own life, and would easily lay his own down if it meant keeping her alive. He had, in fact, put himself in danger countless times when he thought it would keep her unharmed. She had done the same for him when they were on missions for Peter. He pushed his thoughts to the side and looked back down at her sleeping form. He decided that it was a good idea to get some rest, since he hadn't had but a few hours of sleep in the past few days, and was running dangerously low on energy. He pulled her close to him and rested his chin on the top of her head and let himself doze off.

=XxX=

Caspian stared at the carvings of the five royals in all of their glory. He silently wished that he could have been born in the Golden Age and not now. He thought about how things must have been so much better for people back then. He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear the footsteps approaching.

"Are you so glad of that magic horn now, boy?" Nikabrik asked coldly. Caspian whirled and drew his sword. He lowered it when he saw the dwarf. When he didn't respond further, Nikabrik continued. "The kings and queens have failed us. Your army is half dead. Those that aren't already will be soon enough."

"What do you want?" Caspian growled. "Congratulations?"

"You want your uncle's blood. So do we." Nikabrik said shortly. His lips quirked up into an evil grin. "You want his throne. We can get it for you." Nikabrik turned and walked away. Caspian hesitated for a moment. He looked back at the carvings and sighed. He followed Nikabrik. They both entered the chamber that held the Stone Table.

"You tried one ancient power. It failed." Nikabrik said, referring to the kings and queens. "But there is power greater still. One that kept even Aslan himself at bay for near a hundred years."

There was a sound from the shadows and Caspian whirled, drawing his sword. A cloaked figure stepped out of the darkness and started walking towards Caspian at a slow, leisurely pace. Caspian's grip tightened on his sword as the figure came closer.

"Who are you?" Caspian demanded.

"I am hunger." Rasped a voice from underneath the hood of the cloak. "I am thirst. I can fast a hundred years and not die. I can lie a hundred nights on the ice and not freeze. I can drink a river of blood and not burst. Show...me...your enemies!" The creature threw off the hood of the cloak and Caspian nearly reeled back at the sight. It was a werewolf. Then he reconsidered his position.

"You can guarantee Miraz' death?" He asked as a hag came out of the shadows on the other side of the Stone Table.

"And more." The hag said. Caspian put away his sword and looked at Nikabrik. The dwarf nodded.

"Let the circle be drawn." Said the hag. She then began chanting in a language that was foreign to Caspian. He stood still as the werewolf drew a circle in the ground around him. The hag pulled out a broken wand and stabbed it into the ground. An ice wall grew up between two rock pillars, covering the carving of Aslan against the back wall. Within the ice wall stood none other than the White Witch herself.

* * *

**Author's Note: So...Minor cliffhanger here. :) Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up within a few days... :) Leave a smiley if you liked it! :D**


	18. Chapter 18: Falling Apart

**Author's Note: Chapter eighteen is finally here! I have a feeling that this story wont have as many chapters as my first one did, but I'm going to try... ha! I'm sorry that it's been so long since the last update, but I've been really busy with school. I've been preparing for the talent show that our school is having so... XD Just thought I'd throw that out there... :) Well, enough about my life.. It's time for you to read about Narnia, since that's what you're here for. So, go read the story and don't forget to leave a smiley face! :D**

**Song for this chapter: Be My Escape by Relient K**

* * *

Edmund felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. Just as he was about to let himself fall to sleep, a cold chill swept up his side and he felt a stabbing pain in his stomach where the small round scar was. He had only ever felt that pain on the anniversary of the day that he was given the scar, and even then it was much worse. For the entire day, he would be forced to remain in bed. He was cursed with cold chills that nothing could cure. And even on the coldest of nights, he would have to be wrapped in layers upon layers of blankets to keep him warm.

He cursed under his breath and gently laid Ari down, making sure that he didn't wake her up. He then raced out of the room to find Peter. Something was wrong, and whatever it was, it wasn't good.

=XxX=

"Wait..." Caspian said as he looked wide-eyed at the Witch. "This isn't what I wanted!"

"One drop of Adam's blood and you free me. Then I am yours, my king." Said a chilling voice. Caspian felt as if the wind was knocked out of him by a strong gust of cold wind.

"No!" Caspian yelled, trying to step out of the circle to get away from the cold. The werewolf grabbed his arm and held it out. The hag took a knife and cut his open palm. A long slit of blood poured out. The Witch stuck her hand out of the ice toward him and smiled. He stopped struggling, though he didn't know why. His head felt foggy, as if he had been drinking.

"Stop!" Yelled Peter as he, Edmund, and Trumpkin ran into the room. Each of them already had their swords drawn and went to the three different targets.

The werewolf crawled over the Stone Table and attacked Edmund. The werewolf leaped at him, and Edmund swung savagely, cutting the beast's shoulder open. The werewolf howled in agony. Edmund turned and raced the other way. The creature followed. Edmund vaulted himself up and jumped. In midair, he turned and brought his sword swinging down. It split the werewolf's head, killing him on contact.

Nearby, the hag knocked the sword out of Peter's hand. Peter kicked her in the head, cracking her skull and killing her. She flew backwards into a pillar and fell to the ground in a heap.

Nikabrik stood over Trumpkin, holding his sword at his neck. Nobody noticed that Lucy had entered the room, and she held her dagger pressed closely to Nikabrik's neck. He twisted her arm around and she cried out in pain. Nikabrik looked at Lucy and hesitated. In that one moment a blade was pushed into his back from behind. He fell to the ground, gurgling blood. Trumpkin held a blade with Nikabrik's blood on it. Lucy nodded her thanks before rubbing her wrist.

"Come on..." The Witch said as she reached out towards Caspian. Peter barreled forward and knocked Caspian out of the circle.

"Get away from him!" He lifted his sword and pointed it towards the large ice block. The Witch retracted her hand into the ice, standing up straight as she looked down at Peter.

"Peter dear." The Witch said in the same sickly sweet voice she used to trick Edmund. "I've missed you. Come. Just one drop." She reached toward Peter. "You know you can't do this alone."

Peter lowered his sword a little. The Witch gave an evil smile before she tensed up. She shuddered as a blade pierced the glass, and the ice wall shattered. As it fell away, the daze that had captured both Caspian and Peter fell away with it. They both looked up and saw a furious Edmund standing behind where the ice wall was. He was holding his sword over his head. He looked at Peter and sent him a glare. Then he said a simple sentence that had Peter's insides churning with shame.

"I know. You had it sorted." Edmund said, his peircing eyes boring holes into his brother's. Peter flinched as Edmund stalked out of the room, knowing all too well that his brother's calm and stoic demeanor meant that he was furious and trying not to lose control. Peter and Caspian both looked up at the carving of Aslan. They heard footsteps leaving the room and turned around to see Susan's retreating back. Peter was glad that he couldn't see the look on her face, because it couldn't have been good. Peter dropped his sword to the ground and sank to the ground next to the Stone Table. Caspian left the room.

A few minutes later he found himself sitting outside of Aslan's How on a ledge. He stared across the open field that was most likely to be a battle site at some point in the next week. He sighed as he heard someone come up and sit beside him. He really just wanted to be alone. He didn't even need to look up to know who it was. The silence alone spoke volumes.

"Why didn't you tell me about my father?" Caspian said to Cornelius after a few minutes of silence.

"My mother was a black dwarf from the northern mountains." Said Cornelius. Caspian gave him an odd look. The elderly man explained. "I risked my life all these years so that you might be a better king that those that came before you."

"Then I have failed you already." Caspian said, hanging his head.

"No. Everything I told you, and everything that I didn't..." Cornelius paused to think of how to word things. "It was only because I believe in you. _You _have a chance now to become the most noble contradiction in Narnian history."

"And what might that be?" Caspian asked doubtfully.

"The Telmarine who saved Narnia." Cornelius said simply. The two of them sat in silence for a while before Caspian got up to search out a certain redhead. He thought that if anyone could give him advice, it would be either her or Edmund. But quite frankly, the Just kind intimidated him. It wasn't long till he found her, out on the training field.

She was moving swiftly with her fighting knives waving around her. It was like a dance. She darted in on an unseen enemy and danced back out, twirling and spinning. She was quite agile for someone who was within an inch of death the day before, but he guessed that it came with having a dose of Lucy's cordial, but he didn't want to be in need of it. She turned on her heel when she heard his footsteps and pointed a knife straight at him, ready to throw it at a moments notice. Caspian froze. Ari relaxed when she saw the familiar face, but he could still see the muscles in her legs tensed, ready to run. She sheathed her knives and walked toward him, her now short hair blowing in the wind behind her as she walked.

"What brings you out here?" She asked, dropping to sit on the dirt.

"I just felt like I needed someone to talk to that might relatively understand what I'm going through. It was either you or King Edmund." Caspian said lightly. "To tell you the truth, your husband scares me sometimes."

"Well, talk away. I'm a good listener." Ari said, giving him a comforting smile.

"I feel like everything I do is a mistake." Caspian said, for once getting his thoughts in the air.

"I felt like that when I first met Edmund." Ari said, laughing to herself. Caspian gave her a strange look.

"You weren't always friends?" He asked, confusion etched on his face.

"Heavens no! We hated each other so much that Peter had to declare a law that we couldn't be in the same room alone." Ari laughed. "He made that law because I _literally _almost chewed Ed's ear off once. He still has the scar."

"But you two seem so much in love!" Caspian said, astonished at the thought that the two had previously hated each other.

"We are. But we weren't always." Ari said, sighing. "Sometimes, things that seem so wrong at the time, end up being the best things that ever happened to you."

Ari fell silent after that and Caspian pondered her words. Everything seemed to be going wrong. The raid. Gaining Peter's respect. Killing his uncle while he had the chance. Maybe, just maybe, these mistakes were pushing him forward, and he just didn't realize it yet. He had a feeling that one day in the future he would be able to look back on these dark days and say that these events were what shaped him for who he would become.

What Caspian didn't know was that Ari's words had a double meaning, for her at least. She was thinking about the child that she lost back in the Telmarine castle. She felt like breaking down every time the thought crossed her mind, and several times she had suffered traumatic flashbacks already. But, as she and Edmund had agreed, it was best that only Peter knew besides them. Other people would pity them, and that was one thing that she didn't need right now. Not if she wanted to keep a grip on reality. If everyone knew, they would be coming up to her to tell her how sorry they were, and that would only cause her to think about it even more.

Caspian eventually stood up and walked back towards the How. As soon as he was out of earshot she let the sobs shake her body once more. She curled herself into a ball and rocked back and forth, tears pouring out of her eyes. Memories flashed behind her closed eyelids from the gruesome beatings she had suffered in the Telmarine castle. She could almost feel her own bloodcurdling screams again, bounding off of the stone walls as blow after blow hit her.

The tears stopped flowing so freely and she just wrapped her arms around herself, like she was trying to keep herself together. She didn't know how much longer she would last before she slipped up and fell to pieces in front of people, but it wouldn't be long until something along those lines happened. There was only so much a person could handle before they did something drastic. She didn't know what she would do though. Certainly she wouldn't do anything like the first time she had ever miscarried. She knew now that if she was hurting herself, she was hurting Edmund, and that wasn't something that she would ever do on purpose again. Seeing his appearance when she woke from the coma was enough to show her that. She let a final tear trickle down her face and she fell back into the soft grass, watching the clouds overhead.

A shadow came over her face and she looked up to see Edmund standing over her. Without a word he sat down beside her. Words weren't needed. Edmund pulled Ari close and they just sat there for the longest time. Edmund's buried his head in her shoulder and she could feel her dress become wet with his tears. A few moments later Edmund spoke.

"I'm so sorry." He croaked. Ari turned around in his arms and stared at him as if he had grown another head.

"What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything wrong." She said to him, choosing her words carefully.

"Yes I did! I didn't do the most important job that I've ever been given." Edmund cried.

"What job would that be?" Ari asked quietly, already knowing the answer. She didn't want to hear, but felt that she _needed_ to.

"Protecting you! When I married you, I took an oath that I would protect you no matter the cost. I didn't do that! If I had protected you back there in those woods, then the baby-" Edmund cut himself off as he saw the tears pricking at Ari's eyes once more.

"Say it. Say it Edmund." She said, blinking to hold back tears that threatened to spill over. It was futile, and she knew it.

"If I had protected you like I should have, then the baby would still be alive!" Edmund shouted. There was a long silence between them where they just stared at each other. Without a sound the tears fell. Ari wrapped her arms around Edmund, and he wrapped his around her. They just held each other and cried until there were no more tears to cry.

"You did the best you could, Ed. That's all you ever did, and it's all I can ever ask for." Ari said quietly, leaning into him. Edmund didn't respond.

It was times like these were the only thing there was to do was keep each other company. Words didn't need to be said to understand what the other was feeling. They just laid there in the warm sunlight until in the distance there was the sound of marching feet. The two sat up and looked at each other, already knowing what it meant. Like lighting the two were sprinting towards the How.

Back in the Stone Table room, Peter sat in front of the cracked slab of stone and stared intently at the carving of Aslan on the back wall. Lucy quietly entered the room and sat beside him, laying a hand on his arm in support to show that she didn't hold what had just happened against him. The two of them just sat in silence.

"You're lucky, you know." Peter said after a few moments.

"How so?" Lucy asked, arching an eyebrow in a way that only she and Edmund could do.

"To have seen him." Peter said, still staring at the carving of Aslan. "I wish he would have just given me some king of proof."

"Maybe we're the ones who need to prove ourselves to him." Lucy said after a pause. Peter gave her a weak smile before running footsteps broke the silence. They looked up to see Ari running towards them. She looked quite a bit healthier than she did earlier, but she was still out of breath from just a little bit of running.

"Peter, you better come quickly." She said, a look of alarm in her eyes. Peter and Lucy looked at each other before they followed Ari out of the Stone Table room.

They all met and walked outside. Ari sucked in a breath and grasped Edmund's hand tightly as they saw rows upon rows of Telmarine soldiers marching out of the forest. There seemed to be no ending to it. At the front, in full armor, rode Miraz. There was a collective sinking feeling as they realized that they had very little chance of survival against this army with their broken troops. Things were not looking good at all.

* * *

**Author's Note: The ending isn't the best in the world, but...oh well. **

**I know I put a lot of emotional scenes in there with Ari, and Edmund, and some things are repeated, but... Yeah. I really wanted to show that they aren't invincible. That they are vulnerable, and that sometimes what people see isn't always what's going on. Ari puts on a smile, but really on the inside she's falling to pieces, as this chapter shows. Edmund blames himself for what happened, and there will be more to come on that subject. Just later on... probably just before Caspian's coronation, but it will be there.**

**Leave a smiley if you liked it! :D**


	19. Chapter 19: A New Plan

**Author's Note: Welcome to chapter nineteen! :) I hope you liked the little tidbit in the last chapter with Ari giving Caspian a small pep talk. :P I thought that needed to be in there... Don't know why. XD Anyways, go read the chapter! :D**

**Song for this chapter: Devastation and Reform by Relient K**

* * *

"Cakes and Kettledrums!" Trumpkin burst out as Peter told the Narnians his plan. "_That's _your next big plan? Sending a little girl alone into the darkest parts of those woods?"

"It's our only chance." Peter said, slamming his fist down on the Stone Table to show how strongly he felt about this. He winced and shook the pain out of his fingers. He made a mental note not to slam his fist down on solid rock any more.

"And she won't be alone." Susan said, stepping up beside her sister. Trumpkin looked at the two queens with concern.

"Haven't enough of us died already?" He said softly, his eyes tearing up slightly.

"Nikabrik was my friend too, but he lost hope." Trufflehunter said mildly. He gave a small smile. "Queen Lucy hasn't. And neither have I."

"For Aslan." Reepicheep said, his eyes growing glassy.

"For Aslan!" Repeated the bulgy bear. Everyone was silent for a few moments and stared at the carving of the great Lion. Trumpkin clenched his jaw closed and gritted his teeth.

"I'm going with you." The dwarf said to Lucy.

"No. We need you _here_." Lucy replied, laying a hand on his shoulder. The look in her eyes was sad, but stern at the same time.

"We need to hold the army off as long as we can until Susan and Lucy get back." Peter said, looking at his sisters.

"If I may..." Caspian spoke up, his voice soft. Ari nodded to him in encouragement. He gave her a grateful smile before he continued. "Miraz may be a murderer and a tyrant, but as a king he is still subject to the traditions and expectations of his subjects." Caspian paused to look at everyone, and then there was a wicked gleam in his eyes. "There is one tradition in particular that may just buy us some time."

"Well, what is it?" Peter asked, looking at the Prince.

"A duel." Caspian said simply. Edmund's solemn face split into a savage grin and the spark was back in his eyes.

"Pete, let me do it!" He said immediately, jumping at the chance to use a sword again. Ari looked at him, frowning.

"No, Ed. I can't let you do that." Peter said, noticing the half-crazed look in Ari's eyes.

"You _know _I'm the best swordsman we've got!" Edmund protested, leaping to his feet. Ari grabbed his arm and pulled him to sit down again, effectively quieting him with a look.

"It's my duty though. I'm the High King." Peter said. Ari thanked him with a small smile that Edmund couldn't see. He gave a minuscule nod to acknowledge her. "But...you can have the honor of reading the proposition to Miraz."

At this, both Ari and Edmund sent identical smirks at each other. They had had previous encounters such as this that had been quite comical, and that was exactly why Peter normally chose them for the job. Edmund's smile dropped though as he thought of Ari having to look Miraz in the eye.

"Ari, are you going to be okay, though?" Edmund asked her, needing to hear it for himself that she wouldn't have an episode.

"I know Miraz is going to be there. It will be well worth it to see his face when he sees that I am alive and well, for the most part." Ari said, nodding. She knew that it would be difficult for her to be there, but she would do it because it was part of her job.

"Alright then. It's settled. Now, let me write out this proposal..." Peter said, giving Ari and Edmund a wicked grin that he rarely showed.

Not even an hour later, Edmund, Ari, Glenstorm, and Wimbleweather the giant walked across the field. Edmund was in full body armor, and Ari was dressed in the typical style of archers. Underneath the black and green armor, she wore a chain-mail dress that reached her knees. The leather armor would offer little protection from an oncoming sword, but it was lighter and gave her more freedom of movement. Ari's fighting style relied more on quickness rather than actual brute force.

She would dart in to immobilize her opponent, and then dance back out of reach. As usual, she would be with Susan directing the archers. She would only use her dueling blades if things got worse and she had to join Edmund and Peter in the heat of battle. It helped put Edmund at ease to know that she would be away from the clashing swords, because it let him concentrate on his fighting and not on knocking her out of the way if a blade came her way.

They carried a white flag to signal peace, but their weapons showed that they were prepared for a fight should one break out. Miraz looked at them through a telescope as they crossed the field.

"Perhaps they intend to surrender." General Glozelle said to his king.

"No." Miraz said, shaking his head. "They are much too noble for that."

It wasn't long until Edmund and Ari were given an audience with Miraz and what council members that were there. Glenstorm and Wimbleweather waited outside of the tent. Edmund unrolled the scroll and began to read the proposition while Ari stood silently at his side with an indifferent expression on her face.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, this chapter is a little shorter than normal, but considering that it's one in the morning, I think I did a good job. I've had a lot of stuff going on lately, so I haven't been writing as much as normal. Hopefully, I'll get back to writing and you guys won't have to wait as long for chapters! :D Wouldn't that be great if I could update every day, or at least every other day?**

**Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D**


	20. Chapter 20: Confrontation

**Author's Note: Well, a good bit of this chapter is the scene where Edmund goes to read the proposal to Miraz, but Ari's with him. Will it cause her to relive the torture she endured in the castle? Probably. **

**I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. :) I hope you guys enjoy it, especially the little scene at the end with Ari and Edmund talking to each other. :) **

**Read and review! :D**

**Song for this chapter: Broken by Seether**

* * *

"I, Peter, by the gift of Aslan, by election and by conquest, High King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Emperor of the Lone Islands, in order to prevent the abominable effusion of blood, do hereby challenge the usurper Miraz to single combat upon the field of battle. The fight shall be to the death. The reward shall be total surrender." Edmund read. After he finished, he rolled the parchment up and waited for Miraz to respond.

"Tell me, prince Edmund-" Miraz began. He may have been speaking to Edmund, but he was staring at Ari. His eyes were cold, and filled with barely hidden anger that she had escaped and had _survived_.

"King." Edmund corrected automatically.

"Pardon?" Miraz asked, confusion etched on his face. Ari sent a sideways glance at Edmund and arched an eyebrow at him.

"It's _King _Edmund. Just King though. Peter's the High King. It's confusing. We know." Edmund replied, shrugging.

"Oh, and I suppose this young lady at your side just happens to be a Queen?" Miraz said, his tone sarcastic.

"She is. And she's also my wife." Edmund said, struggling to bite back the malice that threatened to enter his tone.

"Queen Ariana the Bold." Ari said, nodding. Ari barely kept the emotion out of her voice when she spoke again. "I would say that I am pleased to make your acquaintance, but as we've already met on less than pleasant circumstances, none of us would believe that my words are true."

Edmund looked over to Ari and noticed that she was having a very difficult time keeping a look of indifference on her face. He could see the fear and memories in her eyes that threatened to break free at any moment. Then he looked back at Miraz and resisted the urge to laugh at the perplexed and annoyed expression that was on his face. He noticed that a few Lords around the tent were having the same problem.

"The young lady has quite the sharp tongue now that she isn't being forced to speak." Miraz said, narrowing his eyes.

"If you would remember correctly, I did not _say_ anything to you and your men when I was being held prisoner except to tell them to go to Hell." Ari replied, her tone quite sarcastic. "And I still stand by those words."

"Why would you risk such a proposal when our army could wipe you out before nightfall?" Miraz asked, ignoring Ari's taunts. The redhead snorted, while Edmund gave a sly grin.

"Haven't you already underestimated our numbers?" Edmund asked, and Ari continued for him.

"After all, just last week Narnians were extinct." She said, the corner of her mouth twitching.

"And so you will be again." Miraz sneered.

"Then you should have little to fear." Edmund shrugged, casting a sideways glance at Ari and saw that she was having a hard time keeping a smirk off of her face, just as he was.

Miraz gave a short chuckle. "This is not a question of bravery."

"So, you mean to tell us that you are _bravely _refusing to fight a swordsman who is half your age?" Ari bit back sarcastically, her eyes dancing wickedly.

"I didn't say I refused." Miraz snarled.

"You shall have our support, Sire, whatever your decision." Said a Telmarine Lord sitting nearby. Sopespian rolled his eyes.

"You Majesty, our military advantage alone allows the perfect excuse to avoid-" Sopespian never finished his sentence.

"I'm not avoiding anything!" Miraz shouted as he stood up, drawing his sword.

"I am merely pointing out that My Lord is well within his rights to refuse." Lord Sopespian replied with a shrug.

"His Majesty would never refuse." Glozelle said from where he was standing. "He relishes the chance to show the people the courage of their new king."

Miraz glared at Glozelle for putting him in a position in which he could not refuse even if he wanted to. He lifted his sword and pointed it in the direction of Edmund and Ari who were waiting patiently.

"You had better hope that your brother's sword proves sharper than his pen." Miraz snarled, his voice deadly. Ari and Edmund smiled genuinely this time.

"You won't be disappointed." Ari said, a wicked gleam in her eyes that rarely showed anymore.

They were escorted out and joined Glenstorm and Wimbleweather. They then walked back towards the How. This was a victory in their books. It would give them the time they needed to get Lucy and Susan into the woods to go after Aslan.

Edmund and Ari walked away from the centaur and the giant, and as soon as they were out of earshot Ari began to hyperventilate, letting herself come undone. The harder she tried to reign in her breathing, the worse it got. Memories of what happened in the Telmarine castle flashed behind her eyes and she felt like she was reliving it.

"Rule number eleven..." Ari whispered, her voice barely audible. "I broke it."

"Do not scream..." Edmund said under his breath. It was one of their rules for when things went terribly wrong.

Ari's eyes glazed over and had a look of sheer terror in them. Edmund grabbed onto her shoulder and said her name over and over again before she came out of her nightmare. She looked at him and launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on for dear life.

Edmund of all people knew what it was like to have these flashbacks. Even all these years after it happened, he was still plagued by nightmares of things that had happened to him. He himself had been tortured beyond recognition once when one of their missions went wrong. It was only by the grace of Aslan that he was still alive.

He held on to Ari and let her cry it out. There were no words of comfort he could offer to her, and she knew it. Nothing could make the memories go away. In England, they called this Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some people used alcohol or drugs to deal with it. Other's took their own life, because they thought it was the only way out left for them. After she had calmed down enough to breathe straight, she looked up at Edmund, her eyes haunted. Edmund was the first to speak though.

"Ari, _why _did you have to go there today? Dear Aslan, I _knew _something like this was going to happen!" Edmund said. He grabbed Ari and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her tightly. He rested his chin on top of her head, since she was a good several inches shorter than he was. He sighed heavily. "You've got to stop trying to be strong all the time."

"Who was it that told me all those years ago that the first step to healing isn't to step away from the pain, but towards it?" Ari said as she pulled away from him enough to stare into his eyes. "It was _you_."

"I know." Edmund sighed again. "And who was is that said that sometimes you have to fall apart to be made strong?"

"Me, and you _just _told me that I need to stop being strong all the time." Ari said, rolling her eyes.

"I hate it when you use my own words against me." Edmund grumbled.

"I know you do, but sometimes it's necessary to get my point across." Ari said, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Edmund, Miraz has to die." Ari said after a long silence where they just held each other in their arms. Edmund nodded grimly in agreement.

"Then let's hope Peter can live long enough to kill that bastard." Edmund replied, his face twisted in a grimace. He knew there was a good chance that Peter wouldn't live through this fight, and it wasn't a thought that he wanted to dwell on. Peter was good, but he still wasn't up to his normal standard. If he had been given a week, or even a few more days, Peter could have probably bested Miraz easily, but as of now, he was going to have to fight for his life.

Edmund swallowed thickly and gave Ari a strained smile. They both then walked back towards Aslan's How to give Peter the news.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, this chapter has a sucky ending... It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but... Yeah. And it's a bit shorter too. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it, and there is more to come! :D **

**Anyways, the set of "rules" is a set of 100 rules that they followed when they were on missions and things like that. The Pevensie's (in _my _story) had _two _sets of rules. One to follow in general, and the other for special situations like Ari's. Like, being captured, going on undercover missions, things like that. Both sets were made up of 100 rules. **

**Leave a smiley face if you liked it!**


	21. Chapter 21: The Fight Is On

**Author's Note: Here we go with the long awaited (for me at least..) scene where Peter fights Miraz. I'm going to go into as much detail as I can with it. Action scenes aren't my strong suit, so just bear with me if it's not very good. :/ Anyways, I hope you guys like it! :D It's only the first part though.. The second will come soon enough. :D **

**Song for this chapter: Savin' Me by Nickelback**

* * *

Deep inside Aslan's How, Susan methodically checked the harness on the midnight black horse. She pulled the straps tighter where they needed to be, and loosened where it was necessary. After double-checking everything once more, she hoisted Lucy up into the saddle. She then pulled herself up in front of her sister, as she would be the one directing the horse.

"Destrier has always served me well." Caspian said, handing the reins to Susan. "You are in good hands."

"Or hooves." Snorted Lucy in a very unladylike manner. Caspian's face split into a grin at the bad joke. Susan chuckled. The Telmarine prince looked up at the queens, or more Susan than Lucy.

"Good luck." He said, staring into Susan's eyes. It took her a minute to respond, and only then when Lucy poked her sister in the shoulder.

"Thank you." She said, a bit flustered. Caspian pulled her ivory horn out of a bag on the ground.

"Maybe it is time you had this back." He grinned. Susan smiled and pushed it back at him.

"Why don't you hold onto it? You might need to call me again." Susan smiled, then dug her heels into the horse's side. The girls rode off into the tunnel as Caspian watched.

"'You might need to call me again?'" Lucy laughed, mimicking her sister.

"Oh, shut up!" Susan snapped in irritation and embarrassment.

=XxX=

Peter, Edmund, and Ari walked out of Aslan's How. Peter and Edmund were both in full battle armor, with Edmund forgoing his helmet. Ari was dressed in the same armor that she had been wearing earlier that day when they had read the proposal to Miraz. They each simultaneously winced as the deafening roar of the Narnian's filled their ears as they cheered for Peter.

Across the field, Miraz was speaking to his general. "If it should appear to be going poorly..." He said, pointing to the crossbow in Glozelle's hands.

"Understood, my Lord." The general nodded.

Peter drew his sword and stepped forward into the sparring circle. Miraz copied him and they began circling.

"There is still time to surrender." Miraz sneered.

"Well, feel free." Peter taunted sarcastically. From underneath his helmet, Miraz seethed.

"How many more must die for the throne?" He said, irritation clear in his voice.

"Just one." Peter said, slamming down the front of his helmet to protect his face. She ran forward and vaulted himself off of a fallen slab of rock. He raised his sword and slashed down to meet Miraz' sword in the air. The sound of clashing steel filled the air and then was drowned out as both armies cheered for their champion, drowning out any further sounds of metal on metal. The fight was on.

In the forest, Susan and Lucy were riding for their lives. Somehow, they had been spotted before leaving the How and were now being pursued by Telmarine soldiers on horseback. They entered a clearing and Susan slowed Destrier to a walk, and then stopped him altogether. She dropped off of the horse and handed the reins to Lucy.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked frantically.

"I'm sorry, Lu." Susan said, her voice strained. She gave her sister a pained expression. "It looks like you'll be going alone after all."

Lucy rode off to the top of the hill, and gave one last sorrowful look to her sister before she disappeared into the forest. Susan took a deep breath before she pulled an arrow out of her quiver. She notched it in her bow and aimed, waiting. A soldier came around a tree and aimed a crossbow at her, but before he had the chance to pull the trigger, he was shot in the neck with an arrow.

Susan quickly aimed and shot down another soldier. Then another, and still another. There were only two soldiers left. One rode off after Lucy, and while she was aiming to kill him, she was knocked to the ground by a kick to the chest. She gasped for breath and looked up just as a sword was about to come down and kill her.

Before the soldier had a chance to swing, a blur of horse and rider came into view and killed the soldier instantly. When Susan finally focused her eyes on her rescuer, she saw that it was Caspian. They grinned at each other and Caspian held a hand out to her.

"Are you sure that you don't need that horn?" He joked. She whacked him over the back of the head for his comment, but she laughed nonetheless. She climbed onto the horse, and they rode off for Aslan's How.

Back at the battlefield, Peter and Miraz were locked in combat. It was a blur of swords and shields. Each man had tricks up their sleeves. Peter hit Miraz in the back, but his sword bounced off of the thick metal armor, leaving nothing but a scratch. Miraz hit Peter in the head with his shield, knocking off his helmet, and then his chainmaille coif. Peter grunted as pain lighted his head, and then he swung low, cutting Miraz' leg. It wasn't deep, but it would still hurt a good bit.

Miraz looked back to Glozelle, who was still holding the crossbow. He then swung, and Peter dodged it, tripping over his own feet in the process. He quickly recovered, but as he was getting up, Miraz tripped him again. Miraz stepped on Peter's shield as hard as he could, and Peter screamed in pain as he felt his shoulder pop out of place. Ari and Edmund both visibly winced on the sidelines as they saw this.

Miraz swung, but Peter rolled out of the way. He gritted his teeth to keep from crying out at the white-hot pain that shot through his as he moved his injured arm. Peter kept rolling and blocking as Miraz landed blows on his shield. Peter then abruptly stopped, tripping Miraz. Both of them quickly got up, panting heavily with exertion. Peter looked over Miraz' shoulder and saw Susan and Caspian riding out of the forest.

"Does his highness need a respite?" Miraz sneered, though it didn't have the desired effect as he was out of breath.

"Five minutes?" Peter said, wincing.

"Three." Miraz said. Peter nodded and they both limped back to their sides.

* * *

**Author's Note: I typed this whole chapter up at one time, so I feel very accomplished. While I'm in the mood to type, I'm gonna go work on the next chapter. :D You guys should be happy that I'm working so hard, otherwise I would update so quickly! XD **

**Leave a smiley face if you enjoyed it! :D**


	22. Chapter 22: A Newphew's Rage

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long update wait! I've been really busy lately. I know that's no excuse since I've had this story sitting in my uploads folder for about two weeks now... I promise I'll update faster next time! :D**

**Song for this chapter: Someday by Nickelback**

* * *

"Lucy..." Peter asked Susan as he limped over. He grimaced as every step jostled his injured shoulder, pain evident on his face.

"She got through. With a little help." Said Susan, nodding toward Caspian. A strange look flitted over Peter's face for a moment, but then it was gone again. He looked at Caspian and gave him a thankful smile.

"Thank you." Peter said sincerely.

"Well..." Caspian began, choosing his words carefully. "You were busy."

Peter gazed up at the How. He then sharply turned his head to Susan. "You better get up there with the other archers, just in case. I don't expect the Telmarine's will keep their word."

Susan nodded and wrapped her Arms around Peter in a hug. He visibly winced as she put slight pressure on his arm. "Sorry." She apologized.

"It's alright." Peter said.

"Take care of yourself." Susan said, giving him a hard stare before she walked away towards the archers.

"Keep smiling." Edmund said to Peter out of the corner of his mouth. Peter forced a smile that was more of a grimace and lifted his sword. The Narnians cheered.

On the other side of the field Miraz angrily threw his helmet down onto the ground. "I'm sure you won't let it get that close again." He snarled at Glozelle, who nodded.

"How does he look to you?" Miraz said, turning to Sopespian as Glozelle began to wrap a bandage around his injured leg.

"Young." Was Sopespian's calm and guarded reply.

"But his majesty is doing extremely well...for his age." Glozelle said as he tightened the bandage on Miraz' leg. The new king winced.

Peter held his arm and groaned in pain. Edmund walked over to his brother's side and began to examine his arm. Edmund was no stranger to battle wounds, and knew how to treat most of them. As Edmund prodded and poked Peter's arm, his brother spoke.

"I think it's dislocated." Peter said. Edmund moved his brother's arm to the side and nodded to affirm.

"You thought right." Edmund said. He had to keep Peter talking so he could pop the joint back into place when his brother was distracted.

"What do you think happens back home if you die here?" Peter asked after a moment of silent. "You know, you've always been there. I've never really-" Peter stopped and let out a yell as Edmund pressed hard on his shoulder and snapped it back into its socket.

"Save it for later." Edmund said, a hard look on his face. He didn't want to hear anything about death or dying. Even though many of their troops would most likely fall today, it was another thing altogether to think about his brother, or _any _of his family dying today. They were too close to him.

Peter shook his head when Ari held out his helmet for him. She sighed and tossed it to the side. Across the field, Miraz also pushed away his helmet. The two of them walked back into the designated dueling area again, weapons drawn. Peter attacked quickly, swinging his sword with renewed vigor, but Miraz parried and deflected the blow with his own weapon. He began to hit Peter with his shield. Peter stumbled and fell over a rock on the ground, and Miraz ran towards him. Peter blocked his blow with his shield and tripped Miraz. They both recovered quickly.

The two continued fighting, an eternal dance of silver and gold flashing together. The sound of steel-on-steel was drowned out by the cheers and taunts from the crowd that had gathered. Miraz used his round shield as a weapon, attacking Peter with it. Peter danced in and tried to stab Miraz, but failed, narrowly missing the chink in the armor. Miraz knocked Peter sword out of his hand, and it fell to the ground nearby with a clang. Miraz slammed his shield forward, but Peter grabbed onto it. He twisted the shield, causing Miraz to turn with it. He pinned Miraz' arm behind him. Miraz used his unhindered arm to thrust his elbow into Peter's face. He then pushed Peter into one of the four pillars surrounding their dueling grounds. Miraz picked up his sword and swung, but Peter deflected the blow with his vambraces. Peter stood up and punched Miraz' wounded leg with as much force as he could put behind his fist. Miraz howled in pain and fell to the ground, his face twisted into a pain-laced grimace.

On the sidelines, Ari and Edmund watched, barely breathing. When Miraz fell, Ari couldn't help but yell out when Peter paused.

"Now's not the time for chivalry, Pete!" She screamed as Miraz called for a respite.

Peter hesitated. Miraz held up his hand, preparing for the blow that was to come. Peter sighed and lowered his arm. He turned on his heel and walked back towards the Narnians. As soon as his back was turned, Miraz lurched for his sword and began to run at Peter.

"Look out!" Edmund yelled, warning his brother. Peter turned just in time. He grabbed Miraz' sword and twisted it around. On instinct, he stabbed upwards. The blade cut Miraz underneath the arm where the armor was weak. Miraz gasped as the pain ripped through him, and he fell to his knees again. Peter held Miraz' sword up, and again hesitated.

"What's the matter boy?" Miraz sneered, his voice rasping. "Too cowardly to take a life?"

"It's not mine to take." Peter spat back. He looked back to Caspian, who stood watching their exchange. He nodded and Caspian stepped forward. Peter handed over Miraz' sword. Caspian slowly raised the sword.

"Perhaps I was wrong." Miraz laughed darkly. "It seems you have the makings of a true Telmarine king after all."

Miraz lowered his head, accepting defeat. Caspian gave a glutteral scream and stabbed downwards.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, did Caspian do like he did in the movie, or did he actually kill Miraz? Find out in the next chapter! :D Sorry! I had to end it there... You know how I love my cliffies. :D **

**Leave a smiley if you liked it!**


	23. Chapter 23: Battle at Aslan's How

**Author's note: I typed this chapter at like... three in the morning. You guys should be proud of me. XD This is the first part of the battle scene. At the rate I'm going, I just might meet my thirty chapter goal. Haha! I've got a few random scenes planned for after the battle, like a celebration ball. Then there's Caspian's coronation... Anyways, back on topic. Or not.. Just read the story! XD **

**Song for this chapter: Push It To The Limit by Corbin Bleu**

* * *

The whole crowd was silent as Caspian swung downwards with Miraz' sword. The steel of the blade hit the ground and the sword stood upright in front of Miraz. The Telmarine king looked up at Caspian with a look of surprise. Caspian glared down at his uncle, his eyes burning with hatred.

"Not a king like _you_." Caspian spat. He lowered his voice. "Keep your life, but I am giving the Narnians back their kingdom."

Caspian resisted the urge to punch Miraz in the face, because that would have been childish. He turned and stalked back to the Narnians while they cheered him on. Peter nodded his approval of Caspian's decision to let Miraz live. Edmund clapped him on the back to show his support. Ari, on the other hand, was looking around the crowd wildly. Something was wrong. She could just feel it. Things never were this easy. Ari and the others had learned long ago that you should always trust your gut instinct, because it could save your life. Her eyes darted around, carefully watching everything that was going on. She kept a hand on her dagger, just in case.

Sopespian walked across the dueling grounds to help Miraz up. Miraz didn't notice the evil glint in the Lord's eyes as he gripped his hand.

"My King." Sopespian nearly sneered.

"I'll deal with you when this is over." Miraz growled, pulling his arm away.

Behind Miraz' back, Sopespian tightly gripped an arrow in his hand. He stabbed upwards, hitting the small spot in Miraz' armor that was unprotected from underneath. Miraz gasped and his eyes widened as the arrow point pierced his skin, fatally wounding him. He slumped to the ground in a heap. Sopespian looked down at his fallen king.

"It is over." He said darkly before grabbing Miraz' sword.

"Treachery!"Sopespian cried. "They shot him! They murdered our king! To arms!"

The four royals on the ground spun as they heard Sopespian's accusation. Miraz laid on the ground, dead, and there was an arrow sticking out of his back. One that had unmistakably red feathers. It was Susan's arrow. Peter's head whipped back to look at his sister, who had a confused look on her face. He looked back and saw that from the angle of the arrow, there was _no _possible way that she could have killed Miraz.

"Ari, you better get up there with Susan." Edmund said, gripping her shoulders and looking into her eyes as if it were the last time he would ever see her. Ari nodded tearily and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Edmund pressed a kiss to her forehead before she raced off to get to the archers. A few soldiers that were nearby rushed at Peter and Edmund. With a few swings of their swords, the enemy soldiers were dead.

Glozelle rode back across the field towards the waiting Telmarine army. He shouted and called them to arms. The entire army roared and cheered as he gave the final order.

"Cavalry, charge!" Glozelle cried, his sword raised toward the sky. The first wave of Telmarine soldiers lurched forward. Peter looked back at Caspian, nodding. Caspian swung up into the saddle of a nearby horse and rode back into the How where hundreds of Narnian soldiers waited inside. With Caspian leading the way, the Narnians charged down a tunnel carved in the ground beneath the battlefield.

"One. Two. Three." Peter counted. Rocks were being hurled around them by the Telmarine war machines, but he and Edmund held their ground.

"Four. Five. Six." Caspian breathed as he drove the horse faster.

"Archers to the ready!" Susan called as the Telmarine soldiers loomed closer. Each of the archers put an arrow to their bows.

"Seven. Eight. Nine... Get ready!" Peter called to his troops.

"Take your aim!" Ari shouted over the deafening roar of the oncoming enemy.

"Now!" Caspian yelled, signaling his troops. The Narnians underground used their weapons to smash the stone pillars holding the tunnel up. The ground collapsed above them and they dodged falling chunks of dirt and rock. Most of the Telmarine army that was charging fell into the pit that the Narnians had created.

"Fire!" Susan shouted as soon as she saw the ground begin to cave in. The entire archery section of their army launched an assault that wounded and killed many soldiers in the pit. They aimed and fired again, their arrows soaring through the air before they landed in the pit, hitting more Telmarine soldiers. Edmund rode by on a horse, launching arrows from a crossbow at any soldier who tried to climb out.

At the end of the underground tunnel, two dwarfs lowered a platform. Caspian led the Narnians and they rode out into the sun and circled back around, trapping the Telmarine soldiers. The battle was on, and the Narnians were fighting a losing battle. Peter looked back to Susan, and she shook her head.

"Lucy..." He muttered under his breath. He looked back to the next wave of the Telmarine army that was now charging for them. In a split decision he raised his sword. "Back to the How!" He shouted, calling for a retreat. The Narnians began to flee back to the safety that Aslan's How offered them.

"Cut off their escape!" Sopespian ordered. The Telmarine trebuchets launched huge rocks at the How. Debris from the How fell and blocked the entrance. Peter froze as he watched their last hope be reduced to rubble. His eyes snapped up as he noticed all of the rocks falling around the archers.

"Brace yourselves!" Susan yelled, drawing out the words. The ground beneath her feet crumbled and she fell. Ari lurched forward and grabbed her hand. She looked Susan in the eye and let go of her hand, and Susan fell to the next level. Ari put her bow to the side and jumped down after Susan and they both got down and joined the others. They looked around and saw that they were surrounded. The Telmarines were closing in.

"Crush them all." Sopespian said, almost under his breath.

Edmund threw the crossbow to the side and drew his sword. Ari pulled out her fighting knives and drew a deep breath. The group of five looked at each other and exchanged wary glances. Then Peter raised his sword and the group charged forward, Peter leading the way.

* * *

**Author's Note: So... Things are getting interesting. ;) I think with the way I'm writing this, the Battle should be in two chapters... maybe more, but no less... I think. Anyways, I don't think I really have anything more to say, except that it was a bit shorter than I would have liked... XD **

**Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D**


	24. Chapter 24: The End Of All Things

**Author's note: So, here's the second part of the battle. I hope you guys like it! I tried to be detailed, but action scenes aren't my best... And this isn't the longest chapter in the world either, but.. Anyways, just read the chapter. XD **

**Song for this chapter: You're Gonna Go Far Kid by The Offspring**

* * *

Lucy rode on through the forest. She cast a worried glance behind her. She was still being pursued by a Telmarine soldier on horseback and he was getting closer every second. A flash of gold caught her eye and she turned her head just in time to see the soldier getting knocked off of his horse by a lion. Destrier reared back and Lucy screamed as she fell off of the horse. The lion jumped over her head and tore off through the woods, chasing the Telmarine soldier away. Lucy raced to the top of the hill where the lion sat and she looked up at him. There was a smile in the Lion's eyes.

"Aslan!" She shrieked. She picked up the bottom of her dress and ran forward. She grabbed fistfuls of his mane and grinned happily.

"I knew it was you!" She said, laughing. "The whole time, I knew it. But the others wouldn't believe me...Except for Edmund, and Ari I think."

"And why would that stop you from coming to me?" Aslan asked mildly.

"I'm sorry." Lucy apologized. "I was too scared to come alone. I thought you would come roaring in and save us like last time." Lucy sighed and laid her hands in her lap.

"Things never happen the same way twice." Aslan said to her. Lucy sucked in a breath and looked up at him, her eyes tearing up.

"If I had come earlier..." She began quietly, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "Everyone who died...could I have stopped that?"

"We can never know what would have happened, Lucy." Aslan replied. He paused for a moment and then continued. "But what _will _happen is another matter entirely."

Lucy brightened. "You'll help?" She asked, her voice hopeful.

"Of course." Aslan replied, chuckling a bit. "As will you."

"Oh...Well, I wish I were braver." Lucy sighed wistfully.

"If you were any braver you would be a lioness." Aslan laughed. "Now, I think your friends have slept long enough, don't you?"

Back at Aslan's How, the battle continued. Edmund had picked up a stray Telmarine blade, and was using it to his advantage. He was an excellent swordsman with one sword, but with two, he was downright deadly. He was back in his element. He swung his sword, killing one enemy soldier, and then swiped with the Telmarine blade, killing another. He turned and blocked an oncoming sword with both blades crossed in front of his face.

Ari was using her twin dueling blades in a similar way as Edmund was using his two swords. She twisted on one foot, her arms crossed in front of her so that one blade was being held slightly higher than the other, both protecting her front. Her right blade sliced the neck of an oncoming Telmarine soldier, while the other knocked an oncoming blade out of the way. She threw one of them at a soldier with a crossbow aimed at Susan. She winced as a stray arrow cut her arm. It wasn't very deep, but it still would affect her battle skills.

Susan was using her bow as a multi-purpose weapon. She shot her arrows when there was enough room around her, but when the enemy got too close, she would either throw an arrow at them with startling precision, or hit them over the head with it. It depended on how much time she had to act which method she used. Both were effective.

Peter had laid his shield to the side before the battle began, and he didn't regret his decision. Sometimes it was better to have both of your arms free of the weight, and now was one of those times. He gripped Rhindon with both hands and parried, thrust, and cut his way through the oncoming enemy troops. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Caspian fall back into the pit that he had created. He dashed over to the edge of the crater to see Glozelle running at Caspian with a spear. Glozelle hesitated when he saw it was Caspian, and just before he dropped the weapon, a tree root shot out of the ground and wrapped around him. Peter helped Caspian out of the hole in the ground and they watched as the trees around came to life.

The Telmarines launched more and more rocks when they saw the trees fighting back. One of them hit a tree and it toppled to the ground with a roar. Another tree dug one of its roots into the ground and it came up some distance away, crushing one of the Telmarine war machines. With hope ignited in them again, the Narnians fought with renewed vigor. Peter lifted his sword to the sky.

"For Aslan!" He shouted. The Narnians charged forward, driving the Telmarines back.

"We can defeat them if we draw them to the river." A soldier said to Lord Sopespian.

"To Beruna!" Sopespian shouted, turning his horse. The Telmarines retreated. They reached the river in little time at all and began crossing without a thought. Halfway down, Sopespian brought the army to a screeching halt. Lucy stood on the other side of the bridge, apparently alone. She drew her dagger and smiled a rueful smile. Then, Aslan joined her. Sopespian stared for a long moment at the pair. He looked ahead, and then back behind him, and then he lifted his sword into the air.

"Charge!" He called. And charge they did.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, this chapter is a little shorter than I originally planned... But, we get the very last part before Caspian's coronation and the celebration ball in the next chapter! :D Then I get free reign, and I get to work on my original story. Nothing at all from LWW and PC... XD Beware. O_O  
**

**Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :)**


	25. Chapter 25: Washed Away

**Author's Note: Here's the very last part of the battle! :D I hope you guys like it. It's a little bit shorter than I would have liked, but this scene is kind of short anyways... Not that much to it. And I didn't want to give you guys a cliffhanger ending this time. So, just go ahead and read it! :)**

**Song for this chapter: Hero by Skillet  
**

* * *

The Telmarine army charged forward across the river. Some ride their horses straight through the rushing water, while others ran across the bridge with their swords raised. Aslan and Lucy held their ground, never blinking at the charging army. When Sopespian was nearly halfway across the bridge, the Lion roared, and the whole army came to a screeching halt.

The water in the river began behaving strangely. It rippled and moved in strange ways. In ways that water just _didn't _move on it's own. It began swirling into a shape, before it finally shot out of the river in the form of a bearded man. A bearded man who was angry. He sneered down at Sopespian on the bridge, who looked quite small at the moment. He reached forward with a giant hand and pulled the bridge right out of the ground as if it were just a stick in the mud.

Several soldiers dove off of the bridge into the water below. Sopespian stood alone on the bridge in the hands of the river-god. The river-god blinked before he plunged downward, swallowing Sopespian whole. The water sprayed up with the force of impact and the light mist of water landed over Lucy and Aslan. With their leaders dead, the Telmarine army surrendered. The many soldiers came out of the water, drenched to the bone. They threw their weapons to the side while Narnian soldiers watched carefully for any stragglers who tried to get by, though there weren't many. The soldiers were smart enough to know that without a leader, they were beaten.

Peter, Susan, Caspian, Edmund, and Ari came out of the river, each dripping with water. They dropped to the ground and knelt in front of the Great Lion. There was a long pause as Aslan looked each of them over in turn. Finally, Aslan spoke.

"Rise, Kings and Queens of Narnia." He said, a smile in his voice. Immediately, three original royals and Ari raised to their feet. Caspian stayed on his knees.

"All of you." Aslan said softly. Caspian looked up for a moment and then lowered his head again.

"I do not thing I am ready." He said, his voice filled with emotion. Aslan smiled.

"It is for that very reason that I know you are."

Caspian slowly raised to his feet, looking at the other royals. They each gave him a grin to show their support. A group of mice carried Reepicheep forward on a make-shift stretcher, and Edmund pulled Ari off to the side while Lucy healed the mouse with her cordial that had saved their lives so many times before. He grasped her hand and pulled her into the trees where they would be concealed.

It took her a minute to realize it, but Ari had tears rolling down her cheeks. Edmund held her head in his hands and swiped the tears away with his thumbs. The tears flowed in waves and Edmund soon found that he didn't have enough thumbs. Her body shook with the effort that she used to keep from sobbing loudly.

"Shh..." Edmund soothed. "Miraz is dead. He's not coming back. He _can't _hurt you any more."

"Miraz is gone." Ari whispered, calming some. She looked up at him with a watery smile."He can't hurt me any more"

Before Ari could speak again, Edmund leaned down and crushed his lips against her. He pulled back after a moment and looked at her.

"I've been waiting to do that since we got back, but with everything that was going on, it wasn't the right time." Edmund whispered, leaning his head against hers. Ari laughed slightly and wrapped her arms around Edmund's slim frame.

"I love you, Ed. Don't you ever forget that." She said, smiling as she buried her face into his chest. Edmund pressed a kiss to her head.

"That goes for you too." Edmund replied softly, leaning down to kiss her softly once more. He squeezed her hand in reassurance before they rejoined the group.

They regrouped with their troops and slowly marched towards the Telmarine castle. Things were finally calming down, and it seemed like everything was going to be alright.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yeah, this chapter is a little bit shorter than normal, but I didn't want to draw everything out... I'll make up for it in the next chapter! I promise! :D I plan on adding some extra scenes into it, so that should help out with my 30 chapter goal... Haha! **


	26. Chapter 26: Light In Darkness

**Author's Note: This chapter took me a while to write, because I had lost a little bit of my inspiration, and because I've been studying my butt off for finals at school. After we leave for Summer break, I should update more often, because I'll have more opportunity to write. :D I bet you guys will like that! **

**Anyways, this chapter is just a scene between Ari and Edmund. I know some of you wanted more of just them, and so I decided to give it to you. **

**Song for this chapter: Break by Three Days Grace**

* * *

Ari tossed and turned restlessly in her sleep. Edmund started awake when a bloodcurdling scream filled his ears. He jumped out of bed and grabbed his sword, looking for an attacker, but quickly dropped it when the screams changed to ones laced with pain.

Ari's hands gripped the sheets so hard that her hands were as white as the cloth was. She thrashed and screamed even louder, trapped in her own mind as the nightmares played again in her head. Edmund raced forward and began to shake her, trying to wake her up. It took him several minutes before she gave a last scream and sat bolt upright in bed, her forehead beaded with sweat.

She pushed Edmund to the side with a scream. Her hand automatically reached for the dagger on the nightstand and she sprang off of the bed and onto the floor. Her bright green eyes darted around the dark room frantically. She crawled back into the nearest corner and pulled her knees to her chest. She held the knife in front of her, ready to stab anything that came near her.

Edmund's heart broke as he saw her on the verge of hysteria. He resisted the urge to run to her and gather her in his arms, because it would only frighten her more, and would likely end up in slight bloodshed from himself. He was in a precarious situation. Ari was trapped in her nightmares. She wasn't clearly aware of anything going on. If Edmund chose to rush forward, she would think he was an attacker. But he had to do something. So he chose to go about things as if he were calming a startled animal. Soothing tones and slow movements.

"Ari." He said quietly, raising his arms in front of himself to show that he was unarmed.

"Stay away from me!" Ari screamed, clutching the knife in her hand so tightly that her knuckles popped.

"It's me!" Edmund said soothingly, shuffling his feet forward slowly. "It's Edmund."

Ari's grip on the knife loosened as he said his name. She looked up, and her wild look calmed somewhat, but still frantic. "Edmund?" She asked softly, looking up at him. Edmund nodded and like lightning she dropped the knife and lurched at him.

He gathered in his arms and they sank to the ground together. He pulled her close and the pair rocked back and forth. Ari's choked sobs filled the room and Edmund couldn't swallow around the lump in his throat. He scrunched his eyes shut and tried to keep the tears from flowing, but he was unsuccessful. He cried into Ari's hair. Thoughts of what Ari went through swam rampant through his brain. He shuddered at the thought of her being tortured and beaten brutally. He didn't know exactly what happened, and he honestly didn't want to know.

Ari's sobs gradually quieted in force and she stayed in his arms, sniffling. She didn't look up at him for many minutes, but finally she drew a shuddering breath and tilted her head up to look into his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Ed." She apologized, wrapping her arms around him. "I just can't seem to keep myself together these past few days."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Ari." Edmund said sharply, giving her a hard stare. "It's understandable, and nobody expects you to be strong all the time."

"I just hate it when I'm like this." Ari said, wiping a stray tear on her sleeve.

"Don't. It shows that you still care." Edmund said, gathering her in his arms again. He rested his chin on the top of her head. "Even though I hate seeing you break down, I would be worried if you never showed at emotion to what happens."

"I know." Ari sighed. The room was silent for a long moment.

"Let's get you back to bed." Edmund said, effortlessly lifting her off of the ground, bridal style.

"I'm not-" Ari cut off and yawned. "Sleepy." She finished, looking up at Edmund with a sheepish expression. He arched an eyebrow at her, causing her to let out a small laugh.

"We've _both _got to be well rested for tomorrow. You know Susan's planned a huge victory celebration, and she'll never let us live it down if we fall asleep during the first waltz." Edmund said, placing her gently on the bed. He crawled in beside her and covered the both up. Ari groaned and rolled over to look at him.

"Don't remind me!" She said, rolling her eyes. "Susan's going to bankrupt the country before Caspian's coronation next week!"

Edmund snorted. "Peter gave her a limit on how big this celebration could be, but she's pushing the boundaries as it is."

"Of course she is." Ari said. "Same old Susan. At least she won't constantly pester us about what we're going to wear as long as she's still planning it." Ari paused for a moment, thinking. "Knowing Susan, she's already sent sketches of clothes for all of us to the royal seamstress."

Edmund chuckled and pulled her up against him. She snuggled under the covers next to him, burying her face in his chest. He looked down at her. He felt relief flood through him as he saw she had fully calmed down from her earlier nightmare. Sometimes it took hours, depending on how vivid and life-like the dream itself was, and the experience it portrayed.

The pair were quiet, listening to each others' breathing patterns. As the minutes ticked past, Edmund let his eyes flutter closed and he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. He thought Ariana was already asleep, but he was proved wrong.

"Edmund?" Ari said suddenly.

"Hmm?" Edmund said, fighting to stay awake.

"You know I don't blame you." She whispered to him.

"For what?" He asked.

"For everything that happened. For me getting beaten. For me losing our baby." She said the last part so quietly that he wasn't even sure he heard it. Edmund sighed.

"I know." He said simply. "Now we both need to go to sleep. Susan will never forgive us if we don't get up in time for breakfast."

Ari laughed lightly and pulled the blankets around them tightly. The two drifted off to sleep. For once in the past few days, they were both at peace.

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed my major Ari/Edmund moment. :) I had fun writing this chapter. XD Only a few more to go! Then it's off to my story that I'm writing with no script. :) Can't wait!**

**Leave a smiley face if you liked it!**


	27. IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE! MUST READ!

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Okay everyone, I'm really sorry about this, but I am going to have to go on a short hiatus. It won't be forever, but I don't know how long it will be until I am able to write again. **

**My former pastor's son passed away today. He had an aneurism yesterday, and collapsed. Today he was discovered brain dead, and the family took him off of the ventilator that was keeping him alive. I am really grieving for this family, because my church family is so tightly knit. Everyone is grieving right now, and we're all feeling the weight of it. He had three small children, the youngest of which I think is three. **

**I can't really write right now, because if I do when I am feeling like this, I will end up doing something to the characters that I will not be able to undo. Like kill them all. I hope you all will forgive me for taking a break. Please keep the family in your prayers! Thank you!**


	28. Chapter 27: Sisters

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for the short hiatus, but I think I'm ready to start writing again. This isn't my best chapter ever, but it will have to do. Thank you for all of the prayers! :)**

**Song for this chapter: Crawl by Breaking Benjamin**

* * *

Edmund and Ari slept soundly through the rest of the night. No nightmares for either of them. Edmund was broken from his deep sleep by a sharp rapping on the door. He raised a hand to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Ari was still curled into his side, her head resting on his chest. Her breathing was slow as she slept on, unaware of the noise coming from the door. He gently moved her off of him and covered her back up with the thick red blankets. He felt irritation rise in him as the knocking continued at a very fast pace. He quickly put on a robe and rushed to the door. He threw open the heavy wooden door and saw his older sister's smiling face.

"What?" He snapped at her irately. "This had better be important." Edmund looked back into his and Ari's room to his sleeping wife. She stirred slightly, but remained asleep.

"Ed," Susan began in a reprimanding voice. "It's lunchtime."

"Oh." Edmund said dumbly. "We had a late night."

Susan's eyebrows shot up into her hairline and she opened her mouth to speak. Realizing that his words had a double meaning, he backtracked. He could imagine that his appearance only backed up what his sister had been thinking.

"Not _that _kind of late night!" He amended. "Ari had one of her nightmares last night."

Susan's smile falter and her brow creased slightly, showing the worry she was feeling. "Is she alright?" She asked, leaning to try and see into the room past Edmund. He sighed.

"No. But she will be." Edmund said to his sister. She surveyed his slightly distraught look.

"Ed...What _really _went on when she was taken?" Susan asked, knowing the back of her mind that what happened was much more than a beating.

Edmund shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He paused for a moment of thought, and each of those thoughts cut him deeper than any knife ever could. After a moment of thought, he turned and pulled the door to his bedroom closed.

"I hope you know she won't be very happy if she finds out that I told you." Edmund said, basically telling her that she needed to keep her mouth shut. Susan nodded.

"Fine by me. You know I'm not going to tell anyone." Susan said, rolling her eyes. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. In the back of his mind, Edmund wondered if Susan was worried about wrinkling the green dress she was wearing.

"Okay." Edmund said, taking a deep breath. "Ari and I were ambushed when we went for a short ride in the woods. We were only out there so she could tell me something important without having to worry about other people overhearing."

"What did she need to tell you?" Susan cut in.

"I'm getting there!" Edmund snapped. He pinched the bridge of his nose again. The next words he spoke cut him deeper than he thought they would. The wounds were still fresh, and the words brought the pain to the surface all over again. "Su...She was pregnant."

Susan's hand flew to her mouth as she tried to cover her sharp intake of breath. "Oh, dear Aslan, no..." Susan breathed. Edmund nodded solemnly.

"The baby didn't even stand a chance with what those _monsters _did to Ari." Edmund seethed. He wasn't sure whether he should be sad, or angry at everything.

"Edmund, I'm so sorry." Susan said, pulling him into a tight hug. "I know how much a child means to the two of you."

"It's not your fault." Edmund mumbled into his sister's shoulder. He looked up at her with a pained expression. "If anyone is to blame, it's me. I didn't-"

"Edmund Pevensie!" Susan snapped, effectively cutting him off. "Don't you _dare _go and blame this on yourself! You didn't do _anything-_"

"Exactly!" Edmund shouted. "I didn't do anything that I _should _have done! If I had protected Ari, like I promised I would the day I married her, then our baby would still be alive!"

"You _don't _know that, Edmund." Susan said, giving him a hard look. Her eyes softened as she spoke her next words. "Beating yourself up over something that is _not_ your fault is just going to make healing that much harder."

Edmund's shoulders slumped. "I know." He said, his words coming out in a huff. He crossed his arms across his chest in a childish manner. It made Susan remember that even though he had once been an adult, he still had a lot of growing up to do, as did she and her siblings.

"Ed." Susan said, snapping her fingers in front of his face when he got a faraway look in his eyes. His entire body jerked as he lifted his head quickly. "Go wake Ari up and get ready for lunch. They'll have already started without us, but that's okay."

"Very well." Edmund said in a very formal tone. Susan frowned. He only ever did that when he was trying to cover up how he was truly feeling. He normally used it at parties and galas to cover up his disgust with all of the court women.

Before she could confront him on her thoughts, he turned on his heel and locked the bedroom door behind him. She shook her head and walked down the corridor, her green dress swishing behind her.

Edmund slumped to the ground against the door and put his head in his hands. He felt like screaming, kicking something, and overall just being destructive for a few minutes. When he finally looked up, a pair of green eyes were staring at him curiously.

"What happened, Ed?" Ari asked, climbing off of the bed. She came and crouched before him, laying pale white hand on his cheek.

"Nothing that you haven't already told me wasn't my fault." Edmund muttered. Ari tilted his chin up so his brown eyes stared into hers. Her gaze was piercing, like she was trying to bore a hole into his thoughts. After a moment of staring, she sighed and straightened.

"I guess it was Susan at the door." She said, opening the wardrobe in the corner of the room. She selected a flowing pale blue dress and threw it over onto the bed.

"I thought you were asleep." Edmund stated, getting to his feet.

"I was. But then I woke up and noticed you weren't still in bed, and I heard voices outside the door." She replied, pulling her sheer blue nightgown over her head. She slipped the new dress on and turned to Edmund, tossing him a pair of black pants and a green tunic-style shirt.

"It was Susan." Edmund admitted, changing his own clothes. Ari walked over to the mirror on the vanity and sighed as she looked at her short hair.

"It sounded like you were angry about something." Ari said, pulling a brush through her hair.

"I was." Edmund replied as he pulled on a pair of black boots.

"Well," Ari began as she donned a pair of slippers. "We had better get down to lunch before Susan has a cow."

Edmund chuckled. "Yes, let's." He said, taking her arm. The pair then proceeded to head to lunch with the other royals.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yes, I know this chapter is pretty much just a filler, but… Yeah. I need to get back into the swing of writing.**** Leave a smiley face if you liked it! **


	29. Chapter 28: Victory Celebration

**Author's Note: This chapter is a little bit shorter than I would have liked, but seeing as I just got back from camp and I am sick as a dog I think I did a bang up job. It's not the best chapter in the world, but I hope you guys will like it anyways. Read and enjoy! (Hopefully...)**

**And I can't believe I forgot to post this before I went on vacation! GAH! It's been almost a MONTH since I've updated! I apologize for the long wait. I'm going to go start working on the other chapters now... Only a couple more to go! :D**

**Song for this chapter: Couldn't think of one. :/ **

* * *

The rest of the day went smoothly for the Narnian royals. They chattered away easily at the table during lunch. Caspian had to bite back his laughter at the bickering the Pevensie family did. One minute Ari and Edmund would be arguing about something, and the next they would both turn on Peter and draw Lucy into tormenting their brother before Susan scolded them into silence once more. The process repeated many times over the course of the meal. By the end of it, they were all laughing so hard that tears were streaming down their eyes.

"Oh, don't mind them." Susan said in between fits of giggles. "This is _normal _for them."

Caspian could hardly count it as _normal_, but if this is what they did on a daily basis then he could see himself getting along swimmingly with them. Over the course of just a day and a half, he and Peter seemed to be on better terms. It was as if their arguments had never happened at all. Although a bit of resentment still festered deep inside of him, Caspian could already feel himself forgiving the slightly older man.

Susan ushered them all of to dance rehearsals after lunch. After all, they had to be prepared for the night of festivities. She wasn't sure if Caspian knew many Narnian dances that they had danced to during the Golden Age, but she was determined to teach him at least one before the night dawned on them, and she wanted to learn at least one Telmarine style dance before the ball.

Ari slipped on a pair of dancing shoes as she sat next to Edmund on the staircase leading down into the Grand Ballroom. It wasn't nearly as grand as Cair Paravel had once been, but it was still very beautiful. One wouldn't know that from the outside the castle looked dark and frightening. The six of them practiced for hours until Susan thought she had drilled the dance steps into their heads enough that they would not forget them later into the night. She then sent them off to be suited up for the events of the night.

Susan was back in her element. Planning parties and festivals were her specialty. She ran a very tight ship when it came to things like this. Everything went according to schedule, she made sure of that. She sent the boys off to one room to prepare while she prepped the girls and herself. There was no use arguing with her when it came to matters such as these. Many had tried, and failed. The royals personally didn't see how this could be a bad thing though. At times it was quite frustrating, but at least they didn't have to worry about organizing the events themselves.

Three hours and a great deal of complaining from Ari later, the royals were twirling around the dance floor while the band played lively music. Caspian felt he was having a hard time with the strange Narnian dances he was doing with Susan, but she commended him on having such a wonderful memory and being able to learn the steps in just a few hours.

Across the room, Peter twirled Lucy in a circle as she laughed loudly with a grin on her face. Her gown flowed out around her and her eyes lit up as she moved her feet with the music. Peter couldn't help himself but smile at the pure joy on his baby sister's face. It had been such a long time since he had seen her truly happy, like she was now.

Ari tensed as a pair of arms slid around her waist, but relaxed into the touch as she realized that it was Edmund. He pressed a kiss into her short hair and the two of them swayed with the flow of the music. Ari wasn't one for much dancing, and neither was Edmund, but every once in a while there would be a certain song that she would have the urge to dance to. One of those such songs began to be played and she grabbed Edmund's hand, leading him to the center of the room.

The pair waited for the cue, and Edmund began to lead them in the familiar dance. It was one of their favorites to do. It was a tad bit difficult to do in her long, floor-length dress, but they managed to pull it off. The pair twisted and turned around the dance floor, not noticing that they were gathering attention, nor that Edmund's siblings had joined in.

The three pairs moved in sync with the music, never faltering or showing signs of stopping. The music governed where their feet would step next. The music swelled around them and they came to a dramatic end. They froze when the last note fell in the air, finally breathing hard from the exertion the dance had caused them.

"Wow." Was all Ari said as she looked into Edmund's eyes. Her cheeks flooded with color as applause broke out around them and she buried her face in Edmund's chest while he chuckled.

It wasn't long after then that they retired to their bedrooms, exhausted. Even though they had slept in, neither one of them could stay around a large group of people without becoming tired. They were not made for crowds and excitement, that was Susan's area.

Ari snuggled herself deep underneath the heavy blankets and closer to Edmund. His quiet snoring comforted her. In his sleep his arms tightened closer around her. She smiled and closed her eyes, quietly drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yeah.. The ending sucked monkey balls. :/ But, hopefully you guys liked it anyways! :) I'll have the video of their dance up on the blog as soon as I can upload it. The pictures of their dresses and hairstyles should be up on my profile by the end of this week. **

**Leave a smiley face if you liked it! :D**


	30. Chapter 29: Coming Home

**Author's Note: Only one chapter to go after this one! Gah! I can't believe that I've completed _two _stories already! It doesn't seem like it's been that long since I've started, but it has. Thanks to everyone who has stuck by me, reviewed, and offered your criticism for my story! After this next chapter, there will be a long author's note, and then it's off to my other story! I'll be writing that one as I go along, for the most part, but I have a general idea of how I want things to go. I've already gotten three chapters typed up! :D Anyways, here's another chapter!**

**Song for this chapter: The Call by Regina Spektor**

* * *

The next several days passed by in a blur. Caspian had been coroneted as Narnia's king only four days after the victory against Miraz' army. The Telmarine people were taking the news of the Narnians' existence in stride, and were well on their way to accepting it. Edmund had been giving Caspian tips during a few of the council meetings with the Telmarine Lords on the laws of the land. He had a strong opinion on some of the laws that should be abolished. Such laws were on things like women having rights to own property. The Narnians had been given equal representation in the council and were well on their way to helping Caspian govern the country in a way that would make Narnia flourish.

Peter had practically locked himself away in the library whenever he found a moment to spare. He spent countless hours poring over old tomes that were large enough to use as footstools. He relished reading what had been happening to the country over the past thirteen-hundred years since they had been carted off to England, but he had some doubt in his mind about some of the events. They glorified the Telmarine kings and nobles, and left the peasants and townspeople looking like nothing more than common trash in the streets.

Lucy spent her time in the gardens. The loved to sit outside and talk to the Telmarine children and Narnians while amongst the flowers and trees. It gave her peace to know that some things didn't change. Narnia was still as beautiful a country as it had been when she first arrived.

Susan had taken her time to brush up on her archery skills. To be honest, she didn't want any company. As shocking as that was, she had too much on her mind to think about in the presence of other people. She wouldn't have been able to commit herself to the conversation and would have nothing to offer when asked a question.

Ari was somehow coping with her traumatizing experiences. Every now and then she would have horrible flashbacks, but none of them were as horrible as the actual events. Her nightmares had subsided., and she had finally come to face her demons and told the rest of the family. Lucy was really the only one of the family that had no clue what really occurred in the castle that they were now living in, but she decided to explain it to Caspian as well. He had been shocked beyond all belief and was furious. He discovered the soldiers in charge of her torture, and had them stripped of all military ranking. Even though Ari was angry at the men that had done this to her, she of all people knew that they were only acting under orders.

Almost two weeks after the Kings and Queens had entered Narnia for a second time, Aslan had called a meeting with all of the people of the country. It was to take place on the outskirts of town in an open field with a few trees scattered round. Not one person had a clue what was on the Lion's mind when he had called this assembly, but they knew it must have been necessary.

Caspian walked down the steps to the courtyard of the castle that was his home. He looked over to the side and saw Peter and Susan speaking with Aslan in hushed voices. The two royals had pained looks on their faces. The three of them looked up as Caspian approached.

"We are ready." He said to them. "Everyone has assembled."

Outside the castle, all of the Telmarine people and Narnians had gathered. Caspian looked out over his subjects and took a deep breath before he began to speak.

"This country belongs to the Narnians just as much as it does to men. Any Telmarine who wishes to stay and live in peace with them are welcome to." He said as he looked out over the faces in the crowd. "And for any of those who wish it, Aslan will return you to the land of our forefathers."

"It has been generations since we left Telmar." Said one Lord.

"We are not referring to Telmar." Aslan spoke up. "Your ancestors were sea-faring brigands, pirates run aground on an island. There they found a cave, a rare chasm that brought them here from their world. The same world as our Kings and Queens." Aslan said as he looked over at the five royals. "It is to that island that I can return you to. It is a good place for any who wish to make a new start."

There was a pause.

"I will go. I will accept your offer." Glozelle said as he stepped forward. "There is nothing here left to offer me."

"We will go as well." Said Prunaprismia, holding her newborn in her arms.

The former queen, her infant, Glozelle, and another Telmarine Lord stepped forward out of the crowd. The four of them stood before Aslan. He gave a gentle smile to them.

"Because you have spoken first, your life in that world shall be good." He said. He turned and breathed on a lone tree that stood behind them. The tree twisted and turned until it formed an opening. The four humans stepped through the door in the air, and vanished from sighed. A gasp fluttered through the crowd.

"How do we know he is not leading us to our deaths?" Shouted a Telmarine from the crowd.

"Sire," Began Reepicheep. "If my example can be of any service, I will take eleven mice through with no delay."

From where they stood, Peter and Susan looked at each other, and then to Aslan. Aslan gave a small nod and Peter stepped forward.

"We'll go." He said.

"We will?" Edmund asked, confusion crossing his face. His grip on Ari's hand tightened.

"Come one. Our time's up." Peter said to his siblings. He turned to Caspian and walked over. He unhooked his sword from his side and held it out to the new king. "After all. We're not really needed here anymore."

Caspian gripped the sword tightly in his hands. "I shall look after it until you return."

"I'm afraid that's just it." Susan said softly as she stepped forward. "We're not coming back."

"We're not?" Lucy asked, her voice raising in pitch.

"You three are." Peter said, gesturing to the youngest siblings. He looked to Aslan. "At least, I think he means you three."

"But _why_?" Lucy asked Aslan. "Did they do something wrong?"

"Quite the opposite, dear one." Aslan said, a chuckle in his voice. "But all things have their time. Your brother and sister have learned all they can from this world. Now it's time for them to live in their own."

"It's alright, Lu." Peter said softly. "It's not how I thought it would be, but it's alright. One day you'll see too. Come on."

Peter shook Glenstorm's hand. Edmund, Lucy, Ari, Cornelius and Trumpkin bowed. Lucy curtsied to Trumpkin and he nodded. Then, on impulse, Lucy lurched forward and gathered the dwarf in her arms. Edmund slipped his hand around Ari's waist as they backed off from the rest of the group. They watched as Susan approached Caspian.

"I'm glad I came back." Susan said to him.

"I wish we could have had more time together." Caspian replied softly, his voice laced with thick emotion.

"It would have never worked anyways." Susan chuckled. Caspian looked at her in confusion.

"Why not?" He asked.

"I _am _thirteen-hundred years older than you." She grinned. She sighed and turned away. She took two steps before she turned back and before Caspian could blink, she leaned up and kissed him gently. She pulled back and he gathered her in his arms. From a distance, Lucy looked to her siblings with an expression of disgust.

"I'm sure when I'm older I'll understand." She said, sticking her tongue out.

"I'm older and I'm not sure I _want _to understand." Edmund said, chuckling. Ari gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs and he winced. "What was that for?"

"Just kiss me you fool." She said, rolling her eyes. Edmund leaned down and pressed a gently kiss to her lips and pulled back.

"I love you." He said, grinning at her.

"And I you. That will never change." She replied and leaned into him. Lucy just rolled her eyes and threw her hands up into the air. Peter looked over to Edmund and Ari.

"Let's hope she stays like that for a _long _time." Peter said. Edmund chuckled and Ari snorted.

Susan walked over and joined the group. Edmund, Peter, Susan, Ari, and last of all Lucy started to walk away. Lucy took one last look at Aslan, and then walked through the door and back into England.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, this has been one of my favorite chapters to write so far. I have one last chapter to post, and then an author's note, and the story will be complete! Thank you so much to those who have stuck with me through the ups and downs of my story. **


	31. Chapter 30: Life Goes On

**Author's Note: This chapter is a little shorter, and it's mostly dialog. It's the last one! I hope you guys like it! Thanks again to all of you that stuck with me through the entire thing. It won't be long now till I have the next story posted! It shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks. It's going to be the one that I write all by myself! Haha! I hope you enjoy it as much as I love writing it. I've already gotten three chapters fully typed up. Anyways, here's the last chapter! :D**

**Song for this chapter: This Is Home by Switchfoot**

* * *

It took the five a minute to realize that they were really back in London. The wind in the subway tunnel picked up as the train pulled into the station. Lucy looked back sadly to where the door would have been had she been in Narnia.

"Aren't you coming, Phyllis?" A voice said. The group looked up to see the geeky boy from the newspaper stand boarding the train. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy looked confused while Susan and Ari shared an eye roll.

The five gathered their luggage and boarded the train in silence. The door shut and the train pulled out of the station with a lurch. Ari could have sworn that as they pulled out of the tunnel that she heard a lion roar. She brushed this off as a coincidence. Then they were speeding down the tracks through the countryside. The five of them sat in silence as the train moved on towards their schools.

Ari considered it lucky that her and Edmund's schools were only a street apart. Whenever they had a free weekend they could visit. It wouldn't be the same as seeing each other every day, but it was good that they could still meet. Once again, their relationship must be kept a secret, but at least they could 'date'. It was normal for teenagers to date, and wouldn't be seen as anything out of the ordinary, and for that they were thankful.

By the time they were halfway to school, they had yet to speak. The group of five were lost in their own thoughts. Then, the silence was broken by Edmund.

"I don't suppose there's any way we could go back?" He asked as he looked up at them.

"What did you do this time, Edmund?" Ari laughed. He flipped open his bag and showed it to them. It was empty.

"I've left my new torch in Narnia!" He exclaimed, not caring how many people heard him. They all laughed.

"Of course it would be you that left something behind." Peter said, clapping his brother on the back.

"Well, the last time I saw it was when I used it to bolt that door closed on top of the tower during the raid." Edmund shrugged. "I guess I just never thought to look for it."

"You used your torch to bolt a door closed?" Ari snorted, managing to laugh at the same time.

"Yes. And I used it to knock one of the soldiers out as well." Edmund replied, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Why would you do that when you have a sword?" Lucy asked her brother in a teasing tone.

"Because he knocked it out of my hand!" Edmund admitted, his cheeks flushing.

"So you're telling me, that the best swordsman of Narnia, was disarmed by a mere soldier?" Peter teased. Edmund frowned.

"Well, it's not like you were of any help to me. You only made me slide down the roof to knock that archer out of the way." Edmund protested.

"I did not!" Peter exclaimed. "You jumped of your own free will."

"Oh, and I suppose I could have sat there and watched him shoot you in the face with an arrow." Edmund said dryly.

"I suppose you could have." Peter said sarcastically.

"Stop it!" Ari whispered harshly. "You two are attracting too much unwanted attention."

The two looked up and sure enough, there were several people staring at them. The five of them hushed and sat in silence for the rest of the ride. They would rather suffer in silence than give up their secret. By the end of the two hour ride, none of them were in a really talking mood. It was enough that they had just been ripped away from Narnia a second time, but now to be separated again was practically torture. As they gathered their things and hopped off the train, a girl with long black hair approached them holding a wooden box. She held it out to Edmund. He took it as they all looked at her in confusion.

"I believe this belongs to you, my King." She said, nodding to him. Edmund looked at the ornate carvings on the box. It was made of a dark wood and had a few Narnian symbols on it. The group looked down at the box as he flipped it open. There, inside, on a bed of velvet was a shiny silver torch. The very one that he had lost in Narnia. When he looked up the girl was gone.

"Who was that?" He asked to no one in particular. The rest of the group shrugged, but the strange look on Peter's face didn't escape his notice. He would have to question his brother later.

"I'm sure I've seen her before." Ari said after a moment of silence. "I just don't know where."

"She _has _to be Narnian." Lucy stated. "Why else would she refer to Edmund as 'my King', and where else would she be able to get that box?"

"I'm sure you'll remember it soon." Susan said to her siblings. "But in the meantime, school awaits."

The five of them composed themselves and walked out of the station. It wasn't a far walk to the schools. When they arrived to the buildings, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. It was a live they would have to get used to, until the call of Narnia became to much and they were pulled back in for another adventure. They could only hope that it wouldn't be long.

* * *

**Author's Note: IT IS FINISHED! I can't believe I've finished two stories! Wow... I couldn't have done it without the support of my friends, and without the reviews that I was getting. For all of you that gave me constructive criticism, and weren't afraid to offend me by telling me that you didn't like something, you guys rock! I won't make you guys wait for the next story too long, so I will have it up soon. Till then, thank you!**

**Leave a smiley face if you loved the whole story! **


End file.
